Canonisation
by Cressida Isolde
Summary: A series of one-shots detailing the sometimes-strained relationships between the F!Boss and her lieutenants. Covering all games, currently in Saints Row 2. Pairings .. possible?
1. Silhouette Serenade

So this idea won't get out of my head. This is going to be a series of one-shots revolving around the Boss and the lieutenants. Lots of dialogue/character stuff! It starts in the first Saints Row game and will probably progress through all three of them.

This one is set just after the mission to rescue Johnny when he's captured by the Vice Kings.

* * *

"You have the worst fucking taste in music, kid," said Johnny.

Kate slid her eyes towards him, hands on the wheel as she pulled away from the kerb. "See," she said. "First thing I was expecting to hear out of your mouth was 'hey, thanks for saving me,' maybe a 'that was a close one'."

She caught a glimpse of white teeth next to her. "Oh, don't think I'm ungrateful, kid. I'll even throw in a 'nice job' if you're that upset about it."

"Well that's sweet of you," she said. "But I think the moment's passed." She looked down at Johnny's leg, at the blood soaking the buckshot-peppered fabric. "How's your knee?" she asked, turning her eyes back to the road. She was heading down Adept Way, back to the Row. The sun was slowly setting, turning the sky purple. She smiled, faintly.

"Fuckin' hurts," said Johnny. "But – eh. Had worse."

"Really?" she asked, her brow furrowing. "Looks kind of-"

"Yeah, it's fine," He waved a hand lazily. "Most of the shot's still in there. Not like a bullet straight through the kneecap. Now that hurts like a motherfucker."

"You need me to take you to a doctor or anything?" Kate's eyes were drawn to the wound, caught on the dark red stain. It was mostly dried, now, but his leg was almost saturated.

"Yeah, there's a guy we normally use," he said. "I'll give you directions when we get closer. But stop trying to distract me. What I'm concerned about, right now, is this fuckin' song, on this fuckin' radio station. The Faction. What are you, fifteen?"

"What are you, thirty-eight?" Kate retorted, a little too defensively. "I like this song. And this station."

"This guy sings like a girl," said Johnny. "And does this song have fuckin' violins in it?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Look, Gat," said Kate. "Get off my dick. My car, my rules."

Another grin. "It's 'Gat' now?"

She couldn't stop her own smile from spreading over her face. "If you're holding out for 'Mr Gat', you're dreaming."

He laughed. "That's not quite my style. And is this dinky little Socialite actually your car?"

"It has four doors," she snapped, actually offended. Whatever he said, he seemed to touch a nerve. "And a decent top speed. That's all I fucking want in a car. I can drop you off here if you'd rather not be seen in it. I'm sure, with that knee, it'd only take you eight hours or so."

"So," he said, drawing the word out. "Where'd you think you'd be right now if I hadn't stabbed Green in the foot, huh?"

The retort she'd been already planning died on her lips. It was replaced with a sinking feeling of shame.

"Uh," she said, and for the first time since she'd arrived at Green's apartment she really looked at him. There was blood crusted around a split on his lip, and he had a black eye behind his sunglasses. An angry red bruise ran the length of one of his high cheekbones. His smile had cracked the split open again. He lifted his hand to wipe away the trickle of blood from his chin.

She bit her lip. "You okay?" she asked cautiously, remembering the full clip he'd emptied into Green's body as it lay lifeless on the floor. "They didn't-"

"Like I said, kid," he said, a faint hint of menace threading through his tone, "I'm fine."

She was silent, for a moment, watching the road Kate looked uneasily over her shoulder, watching for a flash of yellow she was sure was coming. "You think we got away okay?"

Johnny glanced in the wing mirror. "Let's hope so, because you're not evading anyone by driving ten miles under the speed limit."

The jibe defused the tension, and she smiled. "Dick," she said, then, "sorry I didn't get Tanya."

"Oh," laughed Johnny. "Don't be. If you'd killed that bitch without me getting a shot in, I'd be fuckin' pissed. I got something special planned for her."

She smiled, but didn't say anything. As she turned onto the bridge, she could see the sun, a dim golden circle through the evening smog that hung over the city. She pulled the sun visor down to shield her eyes.

"Looking forward to it," she said.

She watched as he leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes.

"You, um, want to get some Freckle Bitch's?" she asked. "Guess I'm buying."

"Fuck, yes," he said, not moving. "Green's not known for his hospitality, know what I mean?"

"Yeah," she said. "Think so." She indicated and began to turn into the other lane.


	2. Everything is Alright

This one is set kind of early on in the Rollerz set of missions. I wasn't actually expecting to write anything about Troy, but he's kind of a compelling character!

* * *

It was almost dark. Kate sat in the car Lin had dropped off for her, watching a group of cars gathered on a grass verge rev their engines. They were pulled up in front of a large white house in the suburbs. It was surrounded by a white picket fence, and lights twinkled gently from its windows. They were just far enough away to not attract attention.

Troy was in the seat next to her, leaning forward, his knees leaning on his elbows and his chin resting in his hands. A cigarette was wedged between two of his fingers.

"I don't like this," he said, at last. "We gotta be careful." he looked over at her, his brow furrowed. "You roll with someone long enough, and soon you start thinking like them."

Kate grimaced. "You done undercover work before?"

"Nah," said Troy, giving an abrupt shake of his head. "Just worried about Lin, is all. The further in you get the harder it is to get out."

She nodded. "Yeah. Bitch has to have balls the size of truck tyres," she said. "Jesus. What happens if they figure her out?"

Troy's frown deepened. "It ain't gonna be pretty." He took a puff of his cigarette. "We move too fast and it'll look bad. They'll get suspicious. Undercover's a long game, and we're playing it like it's a short."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Whose idea was it to send her in?" she asked, after a while.

"Julius," Troy said. "But he wouldn't have sent her in if she hadn't been up for it."

"You talk to Julius about this?" she asked. "Tell him you think it's too risky?"

Troy laughed humourlessly. "Julius don't exactly take well to criticism. He likes to keep a very tight rein on everything we do. Just a warning for ya."

"Really?" she asked.

"Eh. He'll listen to your input, but when he makes up his mind, the decision's final, believe me. I tried telling him that we shouldn't be getting into all this drug stuff, but he didn't want to hear it."

"Well, how else would we make our money?" asked Kate.

Troy just shrugged.

"Well – have you tried talking to Lin about how you think it's too dangerous?" she asked.

He looked up at her, sidelong. "I think Johnny suits black eyes a lot better than me, don't you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," he said, slowly. "That if I try to tell Lin something's too dangerous for her she's not gonna take it well, get it?"

"Oh." Kate slumped back in the driver's seat. "Okay. Yeah, I can see that not going well."

"What did you think I meant?" He was looking at her curiously.

"I don't know," she said. "Nothing. Whatever. What do we know about the Rollerz, anyway?"

"Not much." He fixed his eyes on the gathering of cars in front of them. Men in blue were leaning up against their cars and smoking, girls threading their way through the crowd, laughing. "They got some shady deals goin' on. We don't know hardly anything about their structure. And what gets me is that they don't need the money. Look at these kids and their fuckin' cars." He took a final drag on the cigarette and flicked it out the window.

Kate checked the car's dashboard clock. Almost ten minutes to go before the race began.

"You from Stilwater?" asked Troy.

"Mm," she grunted. "Why?"

"Whereabouts?"

She turned her head to glare at him. "Southern Cross. Why?"

"Just thought you don't seem like a kid that grew up on the streets, you know? You don't talk like that. When you're not swearing, anyway."

"What are you, my grandfather?" she snarled. "What's with the third degree? I'm not fucking grilling you on your fucking backstory, am I?"

"Christ," he said, looking away. "Sorry. Didn't think you'd take it so personal."

"I'm not some fucking rich kid slumming it, okay?" she asked. "Not trying to find myself or see how the poor people live or piss off my dad, okay? You ask everyone this kind of shit?"

He held his hands up defensively. "Okay," he said. "Okay. No more questions. You're the boss."

She turned her head to look forward once more, and pressed a hand to her mouth. She laughed, quietly. "Sorry," she said. "Little stressed. Not really that good of a driver."

"You got a license?" asked Troy.

"N-no," she said. "Think they'll check?"

Troy sighed. "No. It's an illegal street race, after all. Just hoping to get out of this car without the help of the jaws of life."

"I'm not that bad," she said. She watched the moon nudge above the low hills close by. The dashboard clock flicked over to 20:00.

"Alright," she said, and turned the key in the ignition. She took one last look at herself in the rear view mirror to check that her lipstick hadn't smudged.

Next to her, Troy sighed again and buckled his seatbelt.

She smiled as she pulled up next to the group. "So when do we start?" she asked.


	3. Lolita (Girl)

The official mission title for this one is Homeland Security. I've been playing through this whole game again as I've been writing this and it's just been so much fun! First Saints Row is amazing. I've been trying to keep gang chapters roughly equal, so, next chapter is going to be Johnny and the VKs again

The chapter titles are pretty much named after relevant (or semi-relevant, or not-really-that-relevant-at-all) songs from the game. This one is actually "Lolita" by Stereophonics, but it's called Girl in-game so that's what I'm going with. Internal consistency!

* * *

"Okay," Dex said. "So, the Carnales have a drug lab here-" He pointed to a spot on the map spread out on the table in front of him. "-And we're going to take it over. Don't go in and blow up everything, got it?" His voice echoed within the stone walls of the Church.

"If we get rid of it for good," said Troy, "that's gonna hurt the Colombians. If it can't be processed here, they won't be able to move it onto the streets as fast. They'll have less reason to stick around."

"Uh, yeah," said Dex. "Exactly. We don't want that. We're not gonna break the chain, we're just going to replace a couple of links."

"But-" Troy was cut off by his mobile phone ringing. He took it out and scowled at it before holding up a hand and backing out of the room to take the call. Dex rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you like Troy?" asked Kate.

Dex looked up at her. "I don't not like Troy," he said.

"Well, you act like you don't," she said, with a shrug. "Are you just being a dick or what? Is it some kind of issue about the Los Carnales?"

Dex ran a hand over his face. "Not you too," he said, his voice muffled.

Kate grinned. "Honestly," she said. "People are saying 'the Los Carnales' just to piss you off, at this point."

Dex groaned.

"Is it the drug thing?" she asked, still curious. "He's so weird about it."

Dex waved a hand. "He told me he had a sister that OD'ed," he said. "But no. I don't know. You just don't get on with everyone you meet. He asks a lot of questions, I guess, but - apparently you do too." He raised an eyebrow. "So - maybe it's me that's got the problem."

Kate laughed, self-consciously. "Sorry," she said. "Still just trying to figure everything out, I guess."

Dex relaxed a little. "You're doing okay, kid," he said. "You're tougher than you look."

"Who are you calling 'kid'?" Kate folded her arms, although her tone was teasing. "You can't be that much older than me."

He folded his arms with a smile, mirroring her. "Well I might not be much older, but I've been-"

"Dex!"

They both looked up to see a Saint stumble into the room, breathing heavily. "Dex, we got trouble, they're coming. They're here."

The smile dropped off Dex's face. He took a step forward and dropped his hand to the gun at his side. "Who's here?"

"Fuckin' Carnales," he said. "They're tearing this place up."

Dex turned towards Kate. "You're riding with me," he said.

"I don't need you to babysit-" she began, but Dex cut her off.

"No need to worry about that, you're going to see plenty of action. Come on."

She followed him out of the door, reaching for her SMG, and ran down the stone steps outside. The sky was as red as blood, smoke rising from the shell of a burnt-out car down the street.

Dex swore under his breath and leaped into the driver's seat of his purple raycaster. Kate followed him, vaulting over the door awkwardly.

With a shriek of tyres, he pulled out into the street. The wind whipped Kate's hair as he drove, and she had to narrow her eyes against the wind in her face. Gunfire rang out through the neighborhood, and Dex turned the car sharply towards the sound.

Kate gripped the side of the door as they passed a Carnales car, and sent a volley of fire into the driver's side door, leaving the driver slumped over the wheel. Dex tapped the brakes, just for a moment, and followed up with three careful shots of his own, taking out the passengers. They left the car, still running, in the middle of the street.

"Not a bad start," said Dex, noncommittally, as they drove off. "Gotta work on your spread."

"My what?" she called, barely able to hear him, over the wind whistling past as they headed towards the coastline.

He raised his voice. "Your-" His eyes widened and he yanked the steering wheel to the right, suddenly. An explosion to her left was so close that she the heat against her face was almost painful, the blast hot enough to burn her eyes dry. She pressed a hand to her face, not even able to cry out in pain.

"Get your head up!" Dex yelled. "We need to do this fast!"

She lifted her head, eyes watering, as Dex accelerated towards the Carnales group with the rocket launcher. Blinking rapidly, she lifted her arm as they passed and sprayed the group with bullets, not stopping until the clip was empty.

The car stopped at the next intersection.

"I get them?" she asked, her fingertips pressed to her eyes once more.

"Hell yeah you did," said Dex. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all."

She grinned through her pain.


	4. We're The Young Offenders

This one honestly just came out of nowhere. I was trying to finish another chapter when this one forced itself into my brain :(

* * *

"You're kidding," said Kate, holding up the yellow sweatshirt in front of her. "Yellow kind of washes me out."

They were standing on a street corner outside a discount clothing store, lit only by the neon store sign and a flickering street lamp fifty feet away.

Dex shook his head. "Nope," he said. "The media will be watching. It'll look bad for the police if they don't take action against the VKs in response. Go get some attention. Go wild. "

Johnny shrugged. "I can work with that," he said.

Kate looked up at him. "If you say so," she said, dubiously. "I've just got one request."

"What's that?"

"Can we knock over Brown Baggers first up?" she asked. "I kind of feel like I want to do this wasted."

Johnny smirked. "I can work with that too," he said.

The liquor store door smashed open with a tinkle of breaking glass. The alarm started up almost immediately, shrill and piercing in the still night air.

"So what are you drinking?" yelled Johnny over the sound of the alarm. "Better not be some shit like Smirnoff Ice!"

He ducked, with a grin, as she threw a bottle at him. It smashed into a glass-fronted fridge behind him. "Fuck you!" she yelled back. "I'm drinking champagne like a motherfucking lady!"

"Couple weeks ago I might have let that slide," he called. "But there ain't fuckin' much ladylike about you."

"Eat a dick!" She ripped the cork out of the bottle she was holding, spraying foam over the linoleum floor, and took a long swallow straight from the bottle. "Guess I should take a couple," she said, more to herself, and tucked one under her arm.

Another smash from the door made her look up. A man in a purple coat was standing there watching them.

"Hey," she said. "It's, uh, Mike, isn-"

"It's the fuckin' Vice Kings!" he yelled, his face twisting into a scowl of anger.

Kate took a step back, as more Saints gathered outside the storefront. "Hey, wait, no," she said. "Guys, it's us!"

A girl hefted a baseball bat onto her shoulder and stepped inside. Kate cast a look back at Johnny.

"We can't shoot them!" he yelled. "Quick, out the back!"

Kate skidded on the floor as she turned to run, almost falling into a row of vodka bottles.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Johnny called back. "Cops are here!"

She stumbled out into the corridor out the back and followed Johnny through the back door. Outside, she could hear the sirens. A police car pulled into the alley ahead of them.

"Only one way out," said Johnny, lifting the shotgun from his shoulder. Kate put her hand on the pistol tucked into the back of her denim shorts.

"Get on the ground!" One of the police officers shouted.

"We're the motherfuckin' Third Street Vice Kings!" Johnny yelled, running towards them. He caught one of the officers full in the chest with a blast of his shotgun. Kate lifted her pistol as the other aimed at Johnny and fired off a volley of shots. Johnny nodded at her.

"Take the cop car?" he asked.

A news van pulled up at the end of the alleyway, just behind the police car.

"Fuck yes," said Kate, taking another drink from the bottle she was holding, and slipped into the drivers seat. She dropped her spare bottle in the footwell and threw the car into reverse, slamming into the news van, before speeding off down the road. As an afterthought, she hit the lights and siren.

"You did that on purpose, right?" Johnny asked.

"Sure," said Kate, lifting the bottle to her lips again. "Okay, where are we going?"

Johnny settled back in the seat. "Way I see it," he said. "If you want to noticed, you piss off some rich assholes. Let's go shopping."

She tipped the rest of the champagne into her mouth and dropped the bottle out the window. by the time it hit the road, she was so far away that she couldn't hear the smash. She clipped a lamp post as she tried to cut across a corner near a block of houses, knocking a headlight out, then swung too far back to compensate. The police car fishtailed back and forth between her lane and the oncoming traffic, as Kate fought to steady it.

"Shit," said Johnny. "Troy told me you were a bad driver, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Fuck you," she said, leaning forward to study the GPS. The world was a dark, fuzzy blur. "And Troy. Which way am I going?"

"Why don't you let me do that?" he asked, leaning forward to input their destination. She swerved sharply to the left, scraping against the concrete barrier as she pulled onto the motorway on-ramp.

"The hell are you doing?" he asked. "You're going the wrong fuckin' way!"

She floored the pedal, racing up the on-ramp. She dodged a car coming down by driving into the side barrier, paint scraping off the car, and pulled out into the lane.

It wasn't until a car nudged her from behind that she realised that the cops were still on their tail. The next nudge sent the car wildly off balance, careening into the barrier again. She yanked the wheel, sending it skidding over the barrier separating the lanes. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Johnny holding onto the car door handhold tightly.

She took the motorway exit wide, swinging the car around the intersection, and ploughing into a tree. They came to a sudden stop.

"Okay," said Johnny. "You straight up just drove into a tree. Get the fuck out of the car."

She turned to look at him, eyes wide. "Are you kicking me out?' she asked.

"No, I'm not fuckin' kicking you out," he said, rolling his eyes. "But you're sure as hell not driving any more. Get in the fuckin' passenger seat."

The news vans had pulled up behind them. Kate could see the flashes from the cameras as she stepped out of the police car.

"VKs motherfucker!" she yelled, shooting her pistol into the air.


	5. The Golden Boy

Why can I not stop writing?

Edit: Minor change!

* * *

Kate walked up the stairs cautiously, picking her way past fallen Rollerz gang members. The pool hall looked like the site of a massacre, blood staining the walls and floors in spatters. The pool tables on the ground floor below the mezzanine were riddled with bullet holes, one even lying smashed in half by the weight of a gang member who had fallen from the level above.

"Lin?" she called, holding her pistol in front of her. A stair creaked under her foot and she froze. She couldn't hear movement upstairs. She took the last few steps slowly and stepped out onto the floor. Her footsteps were the only thing she could hear.

"Lin?" she said, again, quietly. She pushed open a door marked 'STAFF ONLY'. It had been an ambush, after all, maybe she wasn't here at-

And then she saw her, slumped over and tied to a chair.

"Lin!" she said. "Jesus! Are you-"

She crouched behind the chair, pulling a knife out of her pocket to slice apart the ropes that held her.

She blinked.

She was looking up at the ceiling. There were two blurry shapes standing over her.

"We made a lot of noise," said one of them. "Cops are on their way."

"It's best that we leave, then," the other one said. He sounded older, and spoke in a calm, clipped tone. "Let's take our guests for a ride."

The first figure slowly lifted something over his head, then brought it down towards her face. Kate closed her eyes before it could hit.

They were moving.

Kate could hear the rumble of the car beneath her, although all she could see was black. Was she blind?

"Hey."

She could hear a voice in the darkness. She tried to speak.

"Nngh?" was all she could manage.

"Kate?"

"Lin?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Yeah," Lin said. "You okay?"

"Face hurts," Kate muttered.

"Tell me about it."

Kate could feel Lin moving next to her, her foot next to Kate's ear. "Where are we?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure this is the trunk of my fuckin' car," said Lin. "Assholes. Look, don't worry. We're going to be okay."

"'Kay," said Kate, trying to blink the fuzz away from her head.

"Help me reach my lighter, okay?" said Lin. "Should be in my back left pocket."

"Fucking need a cigarette?" Kate asked, trying to wriggle around, pressing her feet against the side of the trunk to move. She managed to maneuver herself so they were almost back to back.

"Trying to burn the goddamn ropes, dumbass," said Lin. "Hey, you've almost got it. Just reach-"

The car shuddered to a halt beneath them.

"Fuck," Lin swore.

They heard the doors open, then footsteps walking around slowly to the back of the car. There were muffled voices outside.

"Shit," said Lin. "Okay, don't say anything. This is going to be okay."

The trunk opened, revealing two figures - a different two figures - standing over them..

"The hell?" One of the men took a step back. "What are you-"

"Donnie!" screamed Lin. "I don't know what's-"

The sound of a gunshot tore away the rest of her sentence.

"What are you doing?" Donnie yelled. "That's my girl!"

"See that?" The other man gestured towards Kate with the gun he was holding. "They're working together. Lin's working for the Saints." He pulled the trigger again, sending a white-hot dart of pain through Kate's chest. She gasped, but struggled to draw breath.

"Sorry to have to deliver the news in this manner," said the man calmly, as he closed the trunk firmly. "But it's better that you-" The rest of the sentence was cut off as the trunk slammed shut. The car began to rock back and forth.

"You okay?" asked Kate. "Lin?"

"Mm," Lin replied. "Okay. I just- lighter?"

Kate wriggled her hand into Lin's pocket, scraping her wrist raw against the rope. The bullet in her chest hurt with every movement she made, but she finally managed to close her hands around a metal case. "Got it!" she said.

"G- good," mumbled Lin. "Careful. Yours first. Gon - gonna be okay. Ha. Did you hear Donnie? He called me - his girl."

The car tilted violently, and then fell, hitting the surface with a splash. Water began to flow into the trunk through the outline of the car trunk door.

"When we get out we can tell him he's got you all wrong," said Kate.

"He's a sweet kid," said Lin, weakly. "Not the brightest, but - he's got a good heart. Don't hurt him."

"I won't." Kate scraped her fingers over the lighter once, twice, before she managed to light it.

"Wish I'd known you better," said Lin. "Saints - saints need more wom-"

Kate felt the rope behind her catch fire, hot against her wrists, before she managed to tear it apart. The water was pooling on the floor under them, almost reaching her ears. Kate reached for Lin, but she pulled away.

"Get out," said Lin. "Get us out, just - get to land."

Kate kicked at the door overhead, bracing herself against the floor and walls. She pounded her feet against the catch, over and over, until she finally felt it give. Freezing water began pouring into the trunk, and before she could react, was lifting her up. She gasped as she reached the surface.

"Lin!" she screamed. She looked down at the car beneath. The headlights were shining under the water, dim and wavering. "Lin!" she screamed again, then tried to dive down. She didn't make it more than a metre before needing to return to the surface to gasp for air in pain.

She looked around, and saw a boat ramp leading out of the water a few yards away. She kicked towards it and dragged herself onto the concrete, dripping trails of water behind her. She was shaking, not sure if it was because of the cold or blood loss, and she reached into her pocket for her phone on her hands and knees.

It was off, and for a moment she panicked, thinking it was dead. She shook it, then hit it gently on the rough concrete, trying to clear the water out of it.

With unsteady fingers she hit the power button.

The chime it made as it turned on sounded like the best thing she'd ever heard. She scrolled through her contacts list, the rough concrete digging into her knees. Dex. Julius. Johnny. Lin. Troy. She lingered on Troy, and then hit the call button.

The dull electronic ring seemed to go on forever.

"Yeah?" the voice on the other end of the line answered, eventually.

"Troy I need help!." The words came out in a rush, over her chattering teeth. She stared at the phone on the ground in front of her like it was a lifeline. "They shot Lin and me and I can't get her out and she's in a car in the water and I don't know where the old guy went and I don't know what to do!" She felt hot tears dripping down her face and was shamefully grateful for the warmth.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Troy, sounding more alert. "Slow down. What's happened?"

"He shot Lin," said Kate, quietly. "Both of us. Ambush. You were right. They put us in a car and pushed us off the pier. She's still in it."

"Okay," said Troy. "Got that. Where are you?"

Kate took an unsteady breath. "I can - I can see the Ultor Dome. Just south of here."

"Okay," said Troy again, slowly and clearly. "I'm going to send you two ambulances and the police dive squad to get Lin. Don't worry about the police. When they get there, your story is Lin's boyfriend - don't give a name - shot you both, dumped you in a car and pushed you off the pier. They won't ask for anything else at the scene."

Kat blinked at the phone. "Okay," she said.

"Good," said Troy. "Hang in there. Help's on its way."

She spat blood onto the ground and stared at it, almost black in the darkness. It wasn't until she heard the sirens coming towards her that picked her phone back up.

* * *

She blinked.

She was warm, and comfortable. This was probably the best bed she'd slept in for a year. The room was white and clean. Her arm was bandaged close to her side.

Troy had been sitting on a chair next to her bed. When he saw her eyes open, he stood up. Dex was just behind him.

"H-hey," she croaked.

"You okay?" he asked. "Things weren't too sure with you for a bit."

"Mm," she said, dozily. "Feel good."

"That'd be the sedatives," said Dex. "See if you can get a prescription for those."

Kate smiled, feeling her dry lips crack.

"We're checking you out, Katie" said Dex.

"And we've gotta leave now," Troy added. "Cops will start wanting to ask you some questions now you're awake."

"Kate," she corrected, slowly, her brain fuzzy.

"Really?" Dex grinned.

"Katie sounds like... freckles. Pigtails." It was a struggle to form sentences.

"Well you got the freckles already," said Dex with a shrug.

She smiled. Things were back to normal. "Where's Lin?" she asked, getting out of bed unsteadily. "Is she near-"

She saw Dex's face freeze. He sighed. "She didn't make it," he said. "Sorry. I'll bring the car around."

She felt her stomach sink as she watched him duck out of the room.

"But-" she whispered.

"Everyone did all they could," said Troy. "I'm sorry."

Kate pressed a hand to her lips. "This shouldn't have happened."

"Yeah," said Troy, bitterness seeping into his voice. "It fuckin' shouldn't have."

Kate was almost at the door when he spoke again.

"Why'd you call me?" he asked. "When you needed help?"

She blinked at him. "You – you'd know what to do," she said. "You always know what to do."

She didn't quite understand the look he leveled at her. "Okay," he said, finally. "Let's go."


	6. Meet Me In The Dark

Thanks for the reviews and favourites so far :)

* * *

Troy and Dex had been waiting for her in the church. Dex was leaning against the altar, arms folded, while Troy stood slightly to the side, cigarette in hand.

"You sure you're up for this?" Dex sounded concerned, but the look in his eyes was more calculating. Measuring.

"I'm not going to be a liability," said Kate. "If that's what you're asking. Didn't you say we're just going to talk to this guy?"

He sighed. "Yeah, just going to talk. Orejuela's a major player in the Colombians, though. We need this to go well."

"Don't see why we can't just take him out right now," said Troy. "Solves all our problems, right? Cuts the Carnales right out of the supply."

Dex glared. "This again? No. There's too many uncertainties. Who knows what the Colombians are gonna do if we off this guy? We're keeping things civil for as long as possible."

Kate lifted her hand to her face and rubbed the fading red scar on the bridge of her nose, one of the last reminders of the last time she'd been out.

"And put some makeup on to cover that," Dex added. "This guy likes women to be dressed up."

"Or not so dressed up," said Troy. "You're looking for him at a fucking strip club."

"Well - you know what I mean," said Dex. "Meet back here in 30 minutes."

Kate grimaced as she peered into the mirror in her bathroom. It was small, barely enough for her to see her whole face, and a crack was beginning to work its way up from the bottom left corner. She dabbed concealer onto her face carefully, wincing as she touched the tender skin. She applied foundation over the top, added some rouge, and was halfway through putting mascara on when she caught her own eye in the mirror.

What are you doing? her reflected self seemed to say to her. What in the fuck are you actually doing? You're going to a strip club to see a drug lord.

"Jesus." Kate screwed her eyes shut. "Fuck off. I've done worse things to get by."

Like shooting people?

"Get fucked," she said. "I only shoot people that deserve it. If this is what having a family is like, I'll shoot some more. Now are you going to let me finish my eye makeup?"

She opened her eyes and glared into the mirror. Her reflection was silent.

"Good," she said, and leaned towards it once more.

"Whoa," said Dex, when she showed back up at the church. She caught Dex and Troy exchanging a rapid glance.

She stopped in her tracks, barely even inside the church. "What?" she asked, hesitantly. "Did I smear lipstick all over my face or something?"

"No," said Dex, slowly. "You just look - different. To what you usually look like."

"In a bad way?"

"Wouldn't say that, exactly," said Troy, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Okay," she said, uncomfortably. "Can we go now?"

"Uh, yeah," said Dex, standing up. "Troy's going to sit this one out."

"What?" asked Troy, looking up.

"Yeah man," said Dex. "See you later."

Kate followed with a shrug.

"Okay," said Dex as they got into his convertible. "Let me do the talking. We can't fuck this up."

She pulled her hair into a ponytail to stop it blowing into her face. "What if he talks to me first?" she asked.

"Well - yes, then you can talk to him," Dex said, rubbing his forehead.

"You talked to Julius about this?" Kate asked, leaning back in the seat.

"Mm," said Dex. "Not really."

"Is he going to like that?"

Dex looked at her sideways. "Lot of questions," he said.

She smiled at him and shrugged. "Your call."

"Yeah."

The parking lot of the airport Tee'N'Ay was quiet but not deserted. They stepped out into the still night air. Dex was looking a lot less confident now they'd arrived, but cheered up when the bouncer greeted him with a smile.

"Hey man," said the bouncer. "Haven't seen you in a while. You, uh, brought a friend?"

Dex nodded. "New recruit."

"You two after some pink together? Or, uh, we've got a couple of spaces open on Tuesdays if she's after some extra cash."

Kate stepped past him carefully. "No thanks," she said. "Not really into getting groped by strangers."

"Sup with her?" she heard the bouncer say behind her. Dex laughed and caught up with her. The club was fitted out in red and pink, with girls dancing sinuously on raised stages or winding themselves around poles. The bartender waved at Dex from across the room.

"Popular guy around here," Kate murmured to Dex over the thumping bass of the R&B soundtrack.

He cast her an exasperated look. "We're looking for the Colombian," he hissed. "Pay attention."

"Let's go sit down," she said.

They took a seat at a table near the bar. Kate noted with some distaste that the floor under the table was sticky.

"Stop making that face," said Dex. "I think I see him. Over there." He nodded towards one of the stages.

He was indicating a balding man in a white suit, with a Hawaiian shirt underneath. He was leaning back in his chair, watching the dancer in front of him lazily.

"Miami Vice over there?" she asked.

"Think so." He leaned toward her. "We're going to order him a drink, and when he turns around, I want you to - I don't know, wave or something."

"Are you serious?" she asked. "We're at a strip club. There are hot girls everywhere trying to get his attention. Who are also naked."

He sighed irritably. "We're just trying to get his attention," he said. "You're trying to pique his interest. Not too many hot girls around buying him stuff, get it?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "If you say so."

Dex waved over a waitress - who was topless - and pointed to Orejuela. "Whatever he's drinking already," he said. "And, uh, a beer, and - what are you having?"

"Some kind of ridiculous fruity cocktail," she said to the waitress. "If that's okay."

"That's fine, honey," said the waitress. "And it's okay, you can look."

Kate blushed.

They watched, tensely, as the waitress carried the glass to Orejuela on a tray. She bent down so her lips were by Orejuela's ear, and pointed in their direction. He lifted his elbow to the back of the chair and turned around to see them. Kate lifted her glass in his direction. He tilted his head to the side, slightly, and then stood up.

"Shit!" she hissed at Dex. "He's coming over."

"Shhh," he said. "That's what we want. Don't worry. I'll talk."

Orejuela's eyes glittered when he looked at them. "What a surprise," he said. "I don't believe we've met."

"I'm Dex," he introduced himself. "And this is Kate. We represent the Saints."

Orejuela smiled. "Ah. You have been giving my associates some trouble of late, correct?" He sat down next to Kate, and put his arm around the back of her chair. Her shoulders tensed slightly.

"Something like that," said Dex. "We're interested in setting up a business arrangement between the Saints and the Colombians."

"Straight to the point, huh?" Orejuela said, smiling. "What's your hurry?" He turned to Kate. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself, cosita?"

Kate glanced back at Dex uneasily. He was glaring.

"I, uh, almost got killed in a drive-by by the Carnales," she said, at last. "I'm paying back a favour."

"And you're interested in stepping in as our distributor in Stilwater."

"We can offer you a lot more stability than the Carnales," said Dex.

Orejuela ignored him. "Do you know the first rule of getting into this business, cosita?" he asked Kate.

Dex opened his mouth, but the Colombian levelled a piercing gaze at him. "I'm speaking to the lady," he said. She saw Dex's hand on the table clench slowly into a fist.

"Don't get high on your own supply?" She raised an eyebrow.

Orejuela laughed. "Not bad, not bad. But no. My first rule is this: never underestimate the other guy's greed."

Kate frowned, confused. Her eyes flicked towards Dex involuntarily.

"Just something to remember," he said. His smile didn't reach his eyes.

"What might encourage you to work with us?" asked Dex.

"Well," said Orejuela, finally turning his attention to Dex. "We've - as you might have heard - lost a lot of product recently. One way or the other. A lot of it is with the police. We're seeking to recoup our losses."

Dex blinked. "You want us to get your drugs back?"

"Essentially."

"And if we can do that?"

"Then we'll treat it as a show of good faith." Orejuela stood. "Thanks for the drink. Keep in touch."

Dex stared at the empty glass Orejuela had left on the table. "Come on," he said. "We're leaving."

Kate followed him out to the car. "You kinda let him get to you," she said. "What hap-"

"I don't know, okay?" he said, waving a hand at her. "I don't know."

"I'm not sleeping with him," she said.

"Yeah," said Dex. "No fuckin' problem."


	7. Look At Me (I'm A Winner)

So, one thing: not being from America, I will probably use weird words/spellings from time to time. Given that this story is clearly set in an American setting I have attempted to use American words for things, but probably won't always get them right. Conversely, you will have to take my weird British spellings from my cold dead hands.

Thanks again for the reviews! I love all of them.

* * *

Benjamin King was a man with an imposing presence. While a large man, he also spoke with an authority backed by years of running the Vice Kings like a Fortune 500 company. Kate didn't even question it.

Johnny, on the other hand, didn't seem to be feeling the same effect. He leaned back in the chair in the side-room of the church and kicked his feet up on the table in front of him. He nudged a shotgun with the tip of his shoe.

"I'm just saying," he said. "You talk a lot, but you've been out of the game for twenty years."

King put both hands on the table and leaned towards him. "I haven't been out of the game for a motherfuckin' day," he growled.

Johnny smiled lazily, pleased with the reaction he was getting. "Just wanna make sure I know who's on my team," he said. "Who's gonna be watching my back."

"You take care of yours," King said, slowly and clearly, "and I'll take care of mine."

"You talking about the kid?" Johnny asked. "Yeah, I trust the kid, she's proven herself. Not sure about you, though. Seems to me like if we head into Kings territory, you're in a good position to walk straight back into the top job, get what I'm saying?"

"I built this gang," said King, his voice low. "And now I'm going to take it down."

"We'll see," said Johnny, with a shrug. He swept his feet off the table and picked up the shotgun in front of him. "This is your show."

"You're damn right it is," muttered King.

They climbed into King's yellow SUV outside. Kate began to open the driver's side door, but Johnny grabbed her arm. "No!" he said. "Jesus, no. I'm never getting in a car that you're driving ever again. You spend all your time looking at the fucking GPS."

She let go of the door handle. "And here's me thinking that you're not afraid of anything," she said.

He leaned forward a little. "Still not in a hurry to die today, Katie," he said.

"Kate," she said, but he had already shut the driver's door behind him.

She hopped into the passenger seat. King settled into the back seat with a sigh.

As Johnny started to drive, King began to speak. "Tanya's going to be expecting something to go down so she's going to be holed up in her apartment. To hit Tanya in her home, we're going to need the apartment code."

"Who's going to have that?" Kate asked. "Cleaner?"

"Maybe," said King. "But we don't have time to figure out which company she uses."

"Why don't we just blow up the whole building?" asked Johnny.

"Because it's excessive and unnecessary."

"What if," suggested Kate, "we like, got a helicopter and shot up the apartment from the outside?"

King sighed. "Do you have a helicopter?" he asked flatly.

"No," she admitted.

"Can you fly a helicopter?"

"No," she said again, quietly.

She heard him sigh, again, heavily. "Any more bright ideas?"

She and Johnny exchanged glances. He shrugged.

"Thank God," said King. "So, to get these codes, we go for Tanya's friends. She's close to her stylist, Stefan."

"Uhh," said Kate. "Impressions Stefan?"

"So you know where we're going." King sat back and looked out the window. "Good."

"Who's this?" asked Johnny.

"He's some European designer," said Kate. "And an asshole. And we're going to Nob Hill."

It almost pained her to admit it, but Johnny actually seemed to be a better driver than her. Sure, he sped, occasionally drove on the wrong side of the road and once or twice clipped a car as he drove past, but didn't actually hit anything substantial. Or stationary. She sank lower in her seat, glaring out the window.

As the car bumped gently onto the cobbled street of the high-end designer stores, she gritted her teeth and dropped her hand to her pistol.

"All the way round," said King. "And - just here." Johnny left the keys in the ignition and jumped out of the car. Kate followed him.

Impressions was a blaze of white light, even in the middle of the day. It was an elegant two-storied building, with large windows displaying the clothes within.

Johnny pushed open the door, shotgun in hand.

"You!" snapped Stefan, looking at Kate. "You are not allowed back here."

Kate felt her cheeks turning red. Johnny turned to look at her.

"Fuck did you do?" he asked.

Stefan was trying to shoo them out of the store. "I told you, no one is wearing one of my blazers over just a brassiere. You insult me. This is not 1998 and you are not Victoria Beckham!"

"You son of a fucking bitch," she said, and hit him in the face with the butt of her pistol. He staggered back, staring at her with wide eyes.

"You - you-" he sputtered.

"Get in the fucking car," she snarled. "Or I break your fucking nose."

"Not my face!" he wailed. Johnny grabbed him by the arm and half-dragged him out of the door. They bundled him into the back seat and got back in the front seats.

"Where now?" asked Johnny.

King had the rear window down and was in the process of shoving Stefan out of the window head first. "Now," said King. "You fucking drive."

The wheels spun as Johnny sped away.

Dangling the designer out the window, as it turned out, attracted a lot of attention. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the flicker of red and blue lights in the passenger side wing mirror.

"I don't have the codes," whimpered Stefan. "Let me go."

She stuck her head out the window. There were at least four police cars following them, sirens shrieking, and just behind them she could see a large black FBI van coming up fast.

"Alright," Kate said to Johnny. "Can you hold onto me so I don't fall out?" Before he had a chance to reply, she was twisting around in her seat, getting ready to stand up.

"What?" he asked, then looked over. "Shit."

The car swerved as he leaned over towards her, almost sending her tumbling, but she felt his fingers brush against her hip as he grasped the waistband of her denim cutoffs. She straightened up, one foot on the car floor and her other knee resting on the seat, facing the police cars behind them. The wind was whipping her hair back into her face as she rested one hand on the car roof for stability and lifted her gun with the other. She aimed, carefully, at one of the cars behind her, and squeezed the trigger.

She whooped as the shot hit the driver of one of the cars, sending the police car out of control. The other police cars dropped back for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, aimed at the driver's seat of the closest car, and fired.

"Yeah!" she yelled, as her shot found its target. She ducked back into the SUV, dropping back into her seat.

"Huh," said Johnny, watching the car behind them careen into a lamp post in the wing mirror. "So that's why we keep you around."

She laughed, almost giddy. "I got hidden fucking talents," she said, still grinning with excitement.

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "How hidden we talkin' about here?"

"Would you two kids stop playing grab ass and drive?" King snarled from the back seat.

Johnny rolled his eyes and floored the accelerator. The car leaped forward, and she began to climb back out of the window. She was halfway out, still trying to find her balance, when Johnny started tugging her back into the car. "Katie, Katie, Katie!" he called, alarmed.

She turned around, distracted. SWAT trucks had blocked the road ahead. Her eyes widened. There wasn't enough time to get back into the car. Johnny swerved, trying to drive around them, but one of the trucks pulled into his path. The SUV hit the truck solidly, sending Kate falling hard against the side of the window before tumbling back into the car, coming to a halt in a heap in the footwell. He threw the SUV into reverse, pulled back, and gunned the engine.

"The code is 3131," said King, settling back into his seat. "Head for Tanya's penthouse."

"Forgive and Forget," wheezed Kate from the floor. "For the love of God, Forgive and Forget."

"There's one near the apartment," said King.

Police vehicles were ramming them as they drove, but, finally, Johnny managed to manoeuvre the battered SUV through the Forgive and Forget drive through.

"Five hundred dollars," said King thoughtfully. "That's not a bad deal."

"It just seems like cheating," admitted Johnny, as he pulled into the parking lot outside Tanya's apartment. "So I hardly use them. You okay down there Katie?"

"Kate," she groaned. "Might have busted some ribs."

Johnny helped her get out of the car. "Where?"

She straightened up, painfully, and ran her fingers along her side. "About here," she said, indicating. Johnny pressed on her ribs with a finger gently. She barely hid a gasp of pain.

"Yeah," he said. "Feels spongy. Busted. Can't do much about that, though."

"Mm," she replied. "It's okay. Let's keep going."

"Atta girl," he said.

"Where's Stefan?" she asked, as she looked back at the car.

"Dropped him off up the road," said King, coldly.

She choked out a laugh. "Good. Fucker."

Johnny looked up to the top of the tower to Tanya's apartment. "I am gonna skull fuck this bitch."

Kate took as deep a breath as she comfortably could and drew her SMG. "Is it weird that I find that statement kind of hot?" she asked.

Johnny's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. She heard Benjamin King, behind them, make a noise of disgust.

"I guess I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said, and began to walk into the building.


	8. 5, 6 Kids

I think I've talked about this elsewhere but not here specifically - I really enjoy writing my own dialogue for my pieces (although there are some great lines I haven't been able to cut out entirely) and also changing some stuff up from the original game. Just to keep things interesting.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?" Julius was standing over Kate and Dex, furious, as they sat on one of the half-broken pews.

Kate flinched as his voice echoed off the stone walls.

Dex sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I just thought-"

"You thought you'd go over my motherfucking head."

"You put me in charge of the Carnales!" Dexter looked up, eyes defiant. "This is me being in charge. Fuck do you expect?"

Julius leaned forward. "I expect you to know your fucking place." His voice was quiet, but there was venom in his tone. "You wanna start your own gang? Door's that way. But don't you ever - ever - pull anything like that again."

Dex rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, Jules. I got it."

"I don't think you do got it," said Julius. "You don't fucking speak for me. You don't speak for the Saints. You have no right to open negotiations on our behalf." Julius' eyes narrowed a fraction. "And that's Julius to you," he said. "You haven't earned anything more."

Kate could see a spark of anger flare in Dex's eyes, but he kept quiet.

Julius took a step back. "I know you've got ambition, Dex," he said, his voice gentler. "But this ain't the way to go about it. You're a smart kid, but keep acting like this and you won't have a future - here or anywhere else."

He cast a cursory glance at Kate. She felt herself shrinking under his gaze. "You haven't been riding with us that long," he said. "But you damn well know better. Don't fuck up again."

As he left the church, Kate let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. Dex was sitting forward, his arms resting on his knees.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fucking great," he snarled. "Thanks for asking."

"Jesus." She sat back. "Okay."

He turned his head to look at her. She looked back at him, uncertainly.

"Fuck it," he said, savagely. "We're taking the Carnales out. Right now."

"Right now?" Kate repeated.

"Yeah, right now," he snapped. "You gonna start second guessing me too?"

"Calm the fuck down," she retorted. "I'm with you, man. You wanna go now, we'll go now."

He looked back down at the stone beneath his feet. "Sorry," he said, after a moment. "I just-" he sighed. "Fuck it," he said, standing up. "Come on. Yeah. Let's go now."

Dex was quieter than usual as they drove out to the airport district. A tall iron fence ran along one side of the road, sharp spikes pointing into the air. On the other side of the fence was a gently rolling field of thick green grass. Kate couldn't stop staring at it. It seemed so out of place so close to the middle of the city. At the top of the hill was a cream villa with a terracotta roof. It seemed idyllic in the late afternoon sun. Dex pulled into the long driveway and began to drive slowly towards the house.

"Watch my back, okay?" he said, his hands holding the wheel tightly.

"Long as you watch mine," said Kate, running her fingers over the SMG on her lap.

Dex stopped the car, a short way down the road from the house. In the stillness, they could hear the waves crashing against the beach behind it, just out of sight. Up another path, to their left, was a large, airy gazebo, standing on wooden pillars with what looked like a fountain positioned in the middle.

"This place is fucking beautiful," said Kate, getting out of the car, almost in wonder. "I'm going to live in it."

"Live in this thing?" Dex said, following Kate up the path to the gazebo. "Looks a bit, uh, drafty."

Kate laughed. "Guess we could throw a marquee up over the top of the whole thing," she said. "But that wasn't really what I was meaning." She bent to the ground to pick up something shiny. A CD. She frowned down at it, wiped it once on her purple tank top, and slid it into her pocket.

Dex was looking at her dubiously. "You really gonna take that?" he asked.

"I'm going to take everything else in this fucking house," she said. "Besides, what if there's something good on it?"

Dex shrugged. "Whatever you want, man," he said. "Okay, this house is pretty much surrounded by walls. We got front door and back door. Which you wanna go for?"

"How about we knock on the front door and pretend to be girl scouts?" she said, with a faint smile.

"I suspect they won't buy it," said Dex, shading his eyes from the sun as he surveyed the mansion. "We ain't flying the right flag."

Kate laughed. "Good point," she said. "Then let's go back."

They started towards the house.

Before they could get close enough to open fire, they heard a voice call out. "It's the motherfuckin' Saints!"

Kate broke into a run. "Come on!" she yelled back at Dex.

She skidded around the corner of the house, but had to leap back as a crowd of Carnales confronted her. She fired blind around the corner, earning a few cries of pain, before leaning out, more carefully this time, to aim properly, dropping two Carnales where they stood.

"Cover me!" she called out, before making the run to the pillar opposite. She heard Dex swear loudly, then open fire.

She took the time to aim at a gang member on a balcony overlooking a large pool, and squeezed the trigger. He fell into the water, dark red billowing into the water.

"Slow the fuck down!"

She paused to let Dex catch up.

"You're gonna get yourself fuckin' killed," he hissed.

"Nah, man, we're cool, we're doing well!" she whispered back, blood racing.

"Are you high?" Dex asked in disbelief, leaning towards her. "Your eyes are all bright-"

"No!" she laughed. "Now come on, we don't have all day."

She darted out into the pool area, took a quick look around, then kicked the back door open.

"Hector says buenos noches, motherfuckers!" she bellowed, and sprayed the room with machinegun fire.

"I've been wanting to say that for fucking _forever_," she said, as Dex ran through the door, firing his pistol at the remaining Carnales in the room.

"I don't get it," he said, shrugging.

"Oh yeah," she said, deflated. "You weren't there. Damn it."

"You can explain later," he said. "I saw Angelo before, he's upstairs. We need to get him before he can get away."

Dex led Kate up the stairs, taking two at a time, and out onto the balcony. Kate readied her pistol. They slowed as they came to the end of the balcony, to the large wooden door.

"You ready?" asked Dex. Kate nodded.

He took a careful step out into the doorway, but jerked back as gunfire erupted from the room.

"How dare you disrespect my father's house?!" Angelo called from inside the room.

"Your father's dead!" Kate called back. "And soon you will be too!"

He fired again at the door, sending chips of wood and plaster flying.

Kate took a step into the room, firing while she looked for cover. There was none. Just as she was going to try to dive behind a chair, Angelo lifted his pistol and pulled the trigger. Kate braced herself, but she heard only the sound of the hammer striking the empty chamber as Angelo's gun dry fired. She saw a moment of panic pass over his face, and then he turned and dived out of the window. She heard Dex turn behind her and start running down the stairs, but she ran to the window instead. Angelo was making for the garage.

Kate lifted her hand, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She aimed, steadily, at Angelo and pulled the trigger. He dropped, noiselessly, to the ground. She let the tension sink out of her shoulders, and leaned out of the window.

Dex was just arriving, now, at a run, but he slowed when he saw the body. He looked back up at her. "Damn," he said. "Not bad."

She gave him a mock salute with her pistol.

Hours later, Kate was still enraptured with the house. She was wandering around, touching the wallpaper, the books in the downstairs library, the carefully-crafted wooden furniture. She even took off her shoes so she could feel the plush carpet under her toes.

She was near the back door when she heard a gentle tap. She opened it, carefully. A woman stood there, strikingly beautiful, dressed in red with dark hair and eyes. She stared at Kate, bemused.

"Uh - hello," she said, in heavily-accented english. "Is - is Angelo home?"

Kate stared back at her. "Not - really," she said. "He's dead."

The woman gasped. "No!" She clutched a hand to her chest. "What happened?"

Kate frowned. "Well - this is awkward," she said. "Did you ever hear him or his brother talk about the Saints? The gang?"

The woman's dark eyes were huge. "Yes," she said.

Kate stared at her. "Well," she said, slowly. "That would be - us."

The woman said nothing, just continuing to stare in confusion.

"And," continued Kate, "we killed him. Um, sorry. I guess."

"The fuck are you talking to?" asked Dex, as he moved to stand next to her.

"I have no idea what's happening," replied Kate.

"Neither do I!" protested the woman.

"Oh," said Dex. "I think this is the girl Orejuela was talking about."

Her eyes lit up. "Manuel!" she said. "Do you know where he is?"

"You could try the local strip club," suggested Dex. Kate fought to hide a smirk.

"Could - could I come in for a moment?" the woman asked. "To pick up - some personal things."

"What things?" asked Dex suspiciously.

The woman blushed. "Just my shoes."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "What size are you?" she asked.

"Six."

"Ugh," said Kate. "Fine. I can't fit them. I'm going to follow you around to make sure you don't try anything, though."

The woman smiled.


	9. 100K

Thanks to my reviewers that I couldn't reply to! And Casey for being great :)

* * *

The cold stone echoed under Kate's feet as she walked into the church. Her steps were slow and measured, as she stepped over broken pews and chunks of fallen marble from the roof overhead. Her eyes were fixed on the cross on the wall of the church ahead. She walked down what had been the aisle of the church.

Julius was standing on the steps to the altar, head and shoulders above the others.

"Good," he said. "You're here."

The others turned to look. Johnny, Dex, Troy. Recruits were gathered on either side. Their faces were sombre.

"What's this about?" she asked.

"This is about Lin," said Johnny, his voice almost a growl. She froze, again feeling cold water lapping at her arms, trying to pull her down into the depths; the rope around her wrists.

"You're the one who's been to the Rollerz bosses' house the most," said Dex, breaking through her thoughts. "You know the area. I told Julius you'd be able to help us plan something."

"I want to see what your idea of a plan looks like, playa," said Julius, looking at her contemplatively.

All eyes in the room were on her. She licked her lips, nervously. "Alright," she said, walking up to the front of the room. A map was spread out on the table in front of Julius.

"Alright," she said again. "So, the house is right up the top of Misty Lane." She picked up a marker and drew a circle around the property. "Thing about this place," she said, "is that there's a lot of ways out. There's the road that runs right behind them, and their driveway leads right into the suburbs - it's going to be hard to block all of their escape routes." She lifted her head, looking for any reaction.

Julius nodded. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.

She looked around at the sea of purple. All eyes were on her, watching her curiously. Dex nodded at her encouragingly.

"Attack from behind," she said. "They'll see us coming so this needs to be done fast. Block the garage so it'll be harder for them to drive away. The balcony's at the back, that needs to be covered, and then we shoot everyone that comes out the front. The side roads need to be blocked off too." She looked around at the others, anxiously waiting for the response.

Julius rubbed his hand over his chin. "Not bad, playa" he said. "That's gonna take a lot of people, though. Not sure if we can pull all that together."

"We can cut that down," said Dex, leaning over the table. "Block the garage with something big. If we take a big enough truck we can load it up with Saints. Sniper on the hill covering the balcony and the front, then a couple guys out the front for good measure."

"Where do we get the truck from?" asked Troy.

"We could jack a car carrier from Foreign Power?" Kate suggested. "That's in the neighborhood, so they won't have time to react."

"Nah, man, they'll see us coming," said Dex. "We can't hide Saints in it."

She felt her face turning red. "Oh," she said. "Yes."

"Docks is probably the best place to start looking," Dex continued. "And I wanna put you on the McManus. You're a good shot."

Troy was looking at her, a faint frown on his face. He looked away when she met his eyes.

"Who do you want on your team, playa?" asked Julius.

She cast her eyes around the room, and pressed her lips together. "Dex," she said, at last. "Johnny."

"Hell fuckin' yeah." Johnny's lips curved into a grin. "Let's get this shit done."

"Come on." Dex punched her arm lightly. "We'll go pick up a truck. When we get back, it's all on."

She followed him out of the church.

"What was that even about?" she asked, as she settled into the passenger seat of Dex's car.

Dex grinned as he pulled out into the street. "He's testing you, man. It's a good thing, don't worry about it."

"Testing?"

"Yeah," said Dex. "You know, seeing what you're capable of. Seeing what you can do. You're not really a baby gangster any more."

"Huh," said Kate, still confused. "So - did I do okay?"

"Well, I don't know what Julius is thinking," said Dex, checking the rear view mirror. "But I think you did pretty well. You just need to work with what you got, rather than trying to cover everything at once. Limited resources, you know."

"I like thinking big," she said, with a smile. "What can I say?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later," he said, pulling up at the docks. Kate could smell salt and gasoline on the air. She slid her sunglasses down over her eyes.

Rusting container ships lined the wharf as they began to walk down towards the vast warehouses.

"They've got like a three-door garage," murmured Kate to Dex. "We're gonna need a big one."

"Shit," said Dex, "That makes things harder. How big?"

Kate wrinkled her nose. "Maybe like a Peterliner with a shipping container on the back," she said. "And I feel like we should set it on fire after we park it to stop any of them driving it away."

Dex shrugged. "Sounds legit," he said. "There should be some storage trucks in the warehouses up here."

The sun was warm on her skin, sparkling off the water. Kate watched the people around them; dock workers carrying crates, men in hard hats standing around in a group, women carefully flipping through pages of notebooks.

This was her city. Her city. Bright and colourful and beautiful, teeming with life. She smiled.

Dex elbowed her, startling her. "Hey," he whispered. "Over there. Think that one will do?"

The cab of truck he nodded towards was a shiny, bright blue, with a white container on the back with 'Pussy Liqueurs' printed on the side. She nodded. "Let's do it," she whispered back.

They walked casually towards the empty truck, before breaking into a run as they got closer. They hoisted themselves into the truck. Dexter reached under the dashboard.

"Hey!" A man in jeans and a tshirt with a logo on the front began to run towards the truck.

Kate leaned out the window, gun pointed at him. "Take a long lunchbreak, motherfucker," she said, as the truck's engine sputtered to life. The man froze. She waved at him as Dex threw the truck into reverse and began to slowly back out of the carpark, beeping as it went.

* * *

They loaded up the truck with Saints. Kate watched them closely, a slight frown on her face.

"Sup?" asked Dex, standing next to her. "You nervous?"

"Yeah," she admitted, pressing her lips together tightly, eyes still on the truck. "What happens if I fuck this up?"

Dex shrugged. "We try again?"

Kate turned her head to look at him. "That - actually makes me feel better," she said. "Thanks."

He grinned. "You're gonna be fine," he said.

"Let's save the congratulations until after this is over, okay?" she said, but she was smiling.

They went over the plan one last time before leaving.

"Right," said Katie, leaning over the map. "Dex, you're driving. We take the truck right along this straight road until you get to the end. I get out and head up the hill. You cut across the grass on the corner, and pull up behind the house. Everyone gets out and heads in through the back door."

She turned to Johnny. "Okay, you are going to be waiting at the bottom of the cul-de-sac. Take a car and a couple of guys with you. When you see the truck, bust in the front and try not to shoot anyone in purple. Sound good?"

"Think I can manage that," said Johnny.

"Well," she said, looking up at the Saints gathered before her. "Let's go then."

Her stomach was in knots as they pulled onto the motorway. She sat hunched over, staring desperately ahead. The barrel of the McManus was resting between her feet.

"Shit," said Dex. "You're not gonna throw up, are you?"

"No," said Kate, miserably. "Shut up."

"You need to calm down, man," he said. "Back yourself."

Kate looked into the rear vision mirror at the container attached to the cab, picturing the people inside, swaying as the truck turned. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I'm good."

Dex pulled over at the side of the road. "This is your stop."

She looked at him for a moment, then picked up her rifle and jumped out of the truck.

"Good luck," she said.

"Same to you," replied Dex.

She watched the truck drive away, then picked up the McManus and started to climb. The cliffside was rough and crumbly under her fingers, and she was making slower progress than she'd been expecting. She turned back to look at the truck. It was slowing down, ready to turn onto the mansion's lawn.

She swore, and grabbed hold of a rock to pull herself up by. It held, just, and she reached for another. After she'd pulled herself up again, she looked through the scope of her rifle. Still too low. Trees were blocking her view.

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the quiet streets. It was answered by a burst of gunfire.

Her eyes widened, and she scrabbled for the rocks above, not caring how much dirt she pulled down on herself. She pushed against the stone below with her foot to lift her to the next, and then reached for the one above.

She heard a deafening boom, and turned just in time to see a burst of flame rise over the trees. She stared at it for a moment, then pulled herself up once more.

She lifted the McManus in her arms, and looked through the scope. Finally, she had a clear view of the balcony and most of the front yard. She listened to the gunfire, watched the Saints swarm around the building. The truck was burning brightly, thick black smoke rising into the sky. For once, she wasn't a part of the chaos.

She could see Johnny at the steps leading up to the house, shotgun kicking as he fired. Dex was inside, and all of the other Saints had followed him in, trusting the burning truck to keep people away.

But then she saw a flicker of movement on the balcony. A shiver ran down her spine. Just as she'd predicted, the house's owners were looking for some way to escape. Dex's words echoed in her mind. _Back yourself_.

The figure was hesitating, looking down at the burning vehicle below. Kate increased the zoom on the scope. It was the old guy. Sharp. Her teeth bared in an unconscious snarl as she watched him, remembering the way he'd shot her. His businesslike manner.

He looked down at the ground, one foot on the balcony railing. He leaned forward, double-checking that there were no Saints beneath.

Kate hesitated, for a moment. He'd never know he was facing the moment of his death, waiting for the his heart to stop beating; listening to the rattle of his lungs. It would be a clean death. He wouldn't even hear the bullet. Lin deserved more.

Sharp bent his legs slowly, getting ready to jump.

Kate smiled, sadly, and pulled the trigger. Sharp was dead before he hit the ground.


	10. Make Up Your Mind

This chapter was really fun to write :)

* * *

The room was spinning, a blur of purple and grey and gold. Kate was sitting in the back room of the church, perched on the desk in front of rows of thick, flickering candles. Rich purple curtains hung on either side. She had a bottle of wine in one hand, her fingers wrapped tightly around the neck. The room was crowded, packed full of Saints.

"We've fucking done it," she heard someone say. "What do we do now?"

She frowned. "That's all of the gangs," she said. "What _are_ we meant to do now?"

"Not quite all of the gangs," said Dex. "Still the cops. Biggest gang of all."

"Seriously?" asked Troy. "You're going after the cops?"

Kate turned to look at Dex. He was staring at Troy like he was challenging him, waiting to see what he was going to say next. "Why the fuck not?" he asked.

"You know what?" she said. "We should get an inside guy in the cops. They could tell us what the fuck they're up to."

Dex laughed loudly. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "That's a fuckin' great idea." He turned to Troy and leaned towards him slightly. "Don't you think so, Troy?"

Troy looked back at him levelly. "Yeah," he said, with a shrug. "Whatever."

"Get someone high up enough and they can just feed every little thing back to us," Dex continued. "Wouldn't that be so fuckin' useful?"

Troy held up his hands. "Why you askin' me, man, I don't know."

Dex leaned a little closer, aggressively. "You don't have any special insights?" he snarled. "No ideas as to who it should be? What about you, Troy? Why don't _you_ do it?"

Kate was staring, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. "Dex," she hissed. "The fuck are you doing?"

Dex took a quick glance at her, then stepped away from Troy. "Nothing," he said. "Nothing."

She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him closer toward her. "Jesus," she said. "You need to chill out. We won. Remember?"

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes dark and angry, then slowly smiled, the anger melting away. "Yeah, we did," he admitted. He reached down and put his hands on her hips. "We should be celebrating," he said. She bit her lip to hide a smile.

A disturbance in the crowd by the door caught her attention.

"Katie!" It was Gat. He elbowed his way through the crowd, knocking people over as he made his way towards her. At last he emerged from the throng, stumbling into Dex and pushing him out of the way.

"Katie," he said again, slurring slightly. "Look. We've been wondering for a while."

She tried to focus on him. "Wondering what?" she asked.

"Do you fuck men?"

"_Johnny_!" Aisha's voice was piercing as it cut through the noise. "What in the hell-"

"Yo, what the fuck," said Dex, stepping in towards him threateningly.

"Are you fucking serious?" asked Kate.

Johnny shrugged off the chorus of criticism lazily. "Just sayin'. Never seen you with a guy. Or anyone, come to think of it. Maybe you don't fuck at all."

She narrowed her eyes. "Listen," she said. "Who, why, when, and how I fuck is none of your business, okay? Don't fucking ask, it's offensive."

"I am _so_ sorry," said Aisha, trying to pull Johnny away.

"How's that offensive?" asked Johnny, resisting Aisha's attempts. "I'm just asking."

Kate glared. "Well let's fucking see," she said. "So, do you fuck men?"

She heard Aisha swear quietly in the stillness that ensued.

He took half a step back, as if she'd hit him. "Do I fucking what?" he asked, baring his teeth.

"Whoa!" Dex stepped in between them, facing Johnny, creating a barrier. "Get her outta here!"

Troy took hold of her elbow firmly. "Time to leave," he said, shepherding her towards the nearest exit.

"But-" she began.

"No but's," said Troy. "You've had enough and you need to go home."

She grasped his arm for balance as they emerged into the cool night air and descended the stone steps down to the road. The patchy cloud overhead reflected the lights from the city below, the Brown Baggers store down the street a blaze of neon. There were people dotting the pavement close by - mostly Saints - drinking and yelling, the sound echoing in the streets.

"I don't know if anyone ever told you this," said Troy, as they set off up the road. "But pissing off Johnny when he's drunk isn't the best idea. Worse than pissing him off sober."

"Why should I care about pissing him off?" Kate asked, a little sulkily. "He doesn't care about pissing _me_ off."

Troy turned to look at her. "It's like your self-preservation instincts go right out the window when you've been drinking," he said. "I'm going to have to make sure you don't jump out into traffic."

Kate took a look back at the church. Light shone through cracks in the boarded-up windows onto the street. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Home," he said.

"My home?"

"Yep."

She frowned. "Are we both going to my home?"

"Uh." Troy took a sidelong glance at her. "We're going to your home, where I drop you off and then I leave."

"Are you gonna put me to bed?" she asked.

His step missed a beat. "Jesus," he said, under his breath.

Kate shrugged, not waiting for an answer. "Which house are we going to?"

"Which one do you think?" he said, after a brief pause. "How about the one that's a five minute walk away?."

"I wanna go to my good house, though," she complained. "The one with the pool."

Troy laughed quietly. "Just as well you're not going anywhere with a pool," he said. "Anyway, it's too far away."

"Can't you drive me?" she asked. "It doesn't - it doesn't take too long."

"I am nowhere near okay to drive right now," he said, navigating her around a corner.

"You serious?" she asked. "You just seem normal."

"Got a pretty high tolerance," he said, with a hint of bitterness.

She turned to look up at him. "Are you a little bit fucked up?" she asked.

He met her gaze cautiously. "Guess you could say that," he admitted.

Kate shrugged. "Who isn't?"

Her apartment windows were dark. Kate hadn't been back to this apartment in a few days, and it was showing. A jagged black tag was scrawled across her garage door. "Assholes," she said, rubbing at the paint with an experimental finger.

Her key turned in the lock. She flicked on the lightswitch, and then instantly regretted it. Unwashed plates were piled in the sink, her underwear was lying in a pile next to her bed. The one-room apartment was small, barely fitting in room for a bed and television. She turned back to look at Troy.

He paused outside her doorway. "Look-" he said. "Kate. Maybe you should lay low for a while."

Her eyes widened. "Because of that Johnny thing?"

He laughed. "No," he said. "Trust me, he's probably over that already. It's hard for him to stay angry for long. Just explodes then goes back to normal."

"Well why did you take me home then?" she asked.

"Because," he said. "You are way too fuckin' wasted right now and you need to sleep it off."

She laughed, clutching the doorway in order to stay upright. "You're sweet," she said. "You're really sweet. Why are you even in a gang?"

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Well - this is what I was talking about. I'm gonna need to lay low for a while. You should - think about it too. Maybe head out of town."

"I am-" she took a step forward- "fucking bulletproof right now," she said. "Nothing in this city can stop me."

He caught hold of her arms as she wobbled unsteadily. "Don't be too sure about that, kid," he said.

She wet her lips with her tongue. "Why don't you come in?" she asked, tilting her head back at the open apartment door.

He froze. "Katie," he began, letting go of her arms and taking a step back. "That's not a good idea. You're really drunk."

"I'm not _that_ drunk."

"Yeah you are," he said. "You need to get some rest. I - I'm gonna head home."

She shrugged a shoulder. "See you round," she said.

"Yeah," he said back, uncomfortably. "I hope so."


	11. Of All the Gin Joints in All the World

A/N: kind of slightly drunk when I wrote most of this.

* * *

It was dark. Her arms were touching something cold. She groaned, and lifted up her head. Blinking blearily, all she could see was white. There was a pool of water in front of her face.

She groaned, and pushed herself back. She was hugging the goddamn toilet. She almost retched again, just looking at it.

Someone was pounding on her front door. That must have woken her up. She pushed herself to her feet, and stumbled to the door. She held onto the walls to keep her balance,her feet scuffing on the worn carpet. Her head was pounding, and each step she took seemed to make her feel more like throwing up.

She cracked the door open, and stumbled back when it was pushed in towards her forcefully. It was only then that realised that all she was wearing was an old singlet and a pair of black panties that were just a little too big for her. Despite this, she couldn't really bring herself to care.

"Wow," said Johnny." You okay? You look like shit."

She leaned against the wall. "I wanna die," she slurred. "Just wanna die. Are we gonna have to have a fight? Because I might spew on you."

Johnny shrugged. "Nah," he said, lightly. "Guess it was kind of an offensive question."

Dex took a step forward. She hadn't noticed him standing there. "Look, Kate, something's-" He broke off. "Shit, you really don't look good."

"Eat a dick," she moaned. "Are you assholes here for a reason or can I go back to sleeping into the toilet?"

"Yeah, we're here for a reason," said Johnny. "Cops picked up Julius."

"Fucking serious?" she asked, blinking into the light. "Picked up for what?"

"We don't know," said Dex. "He was calling me about you. He had to hang up. Nothing since."

"Me?" she repeated. "What'd he say about me?"

"He said that he trusts you. And that we're gonna need you."

"Need me to do what?" she asked.

Dex looked away, frustrated. "We don't fuckin' know," he said. "We don't know where he is."

"We need to show those fucks that we're not just gonna take this shit," said Johnny.

"And how you wanna do that?" asked Dex, flatly.

"Well, where they gonna be keeping him?" asked Johnny. "Police station? Let's go bust him out."

"We don't know if he's there," said Dex, irritably. "He's probably not. Way too obvious."

"Well let's fuck something up, then. Something big."

"We are not blowing up City Hall," said Dex. "Seriously. I'm shutting that down right now."

"God fucking damn it, " said Johnny. "The fuck do we do then? Wait them out?"

"I doubt they'll leave us hanging for long," said Dex grimly.

"This is fucking bullshit," said Johnny.

"Can you guys excuse me for a minute?" asked Kate. "I am actually going to have to go throw up."

She retreated into the bathroom. She left the door open and collapsed on the cold linoleum.

She heard Johnny's voice through the thin wall, from the front door. "Troy isn't here, is he?"

She groaned. "No," she called. "Why the fuck would he be here?"

"We can't get hold of him."

"I don't care," she moaned.

"Hey."

She looked up to see Dex in the doorway.

"What?" she mumbled.

"Come to the church. We need to think about this some more."

"But it's bright outside," she complained. "And loud. And it smells bad."

"Honestly," said Dex. "It doesn't smell much worse out there than it does in here."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Fair point."

"We'll smoke you out," he continued. "It'll make you feel better."

"I don't feel like that would really be conducive to making good plans," she said.

He shrugged. "Probably stop you throwing up, though."

"That is," she said, "actually really nice of you. Let me, um. Find some clothes or something."

"Yeah, no problem," he said. "See you there."

* * *

The sun was uncomfortably warm on her clammy skin as she walked to the church. She was wearing the darkest pair of sunglasses she could find, and a baseball cap pulled down low over her eyes.

"You in disguise or something?" asked Johnny as she stumbled into the church, one hand on the wall for support.

She couldn't think of a comeback, so she ignored it. "Any news?" she asked.

"Not yet," said Dex, passing her a tightly rolled joint. "You go easy on that now, too much'll make you feel worse."

She took it gratefully and sat down on one of the two unbroken pews left in the church. She closed her eyes as the smoke filled her lungs.

"Okay," she said, smoke escaping through her mouth. "So. What were we going to talk about?"

Dex sat down next to her. Johnny remained standing in front of both of them.

"What we do when we get a call," said Dex. "What they want. Who they're representing."

"What do they want him for?" asked Johnny. "I mean, they're not going to ask for a fucking ransom."

Dex frowned. "Yeah," he said. "That's right. Seems more like they'll want something else from us. Maybe they want us to do something."

"I'm not doing bitch work for the cops," said Johnny. "No fuckin' way."

"They could want our connections," offered Kate. She took another drag on the joint and then passed it back to Dex. "Colombians gotta be valuable."

"You think they'd kidnap Julius to ask for a fuckin' introduction?" asked Johnny. "Seems like a lot of effort to go to."

"Can we habias corpus them?" asked Kate.

"What?" asked Johnny.

Dex had become very still, the joint in his hand turning into ash. He leaned forward, one eyebrow raised. "We - could," he said. "Though I think they realize they're holding him illegally so won't acknowledge it." He paused, frowning. "And they'd probably take it as us trying to fuck with them. Could end badly."

"What are you even talking about?" asked Johnny.

"Oh," said Kate. "It means like, 'show us the body'."

"I'm not liking where this is going," Johnny replied.

"Nah, it just means they have to justify holding him," said Dex. "No actual body involved. Hopefully."

"You think we should call a lawyer?" asked Kate. "I know a couple."

"Like Legal Lee?" said Dex. "Let's hold off for now. Anyway, you go to college? Didn't know that."

"Uh, for like a semester," said Kate. "Not enough to count."

"Still," said Dex. "You-"

They fell into silence as the tinny ringtone of Kate's mobile phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and stared at it for a moment.

"Answer it," hissed Dex.

She looked at him uncertainly, then tapped the answer button.

"Hello?" she said.

"Good afternoon," she heard.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Straight to the point. I like that."

She shared a wary glance with Dex and Johnny.

"This is Chief Monroe. Your friend is safe - for now."

"You still haven't said what you want," she said.

"Clever girl." His voice was dripping with condescension. "Let me explain: I need Marshall Winslow out of the way. You are to park his bus on the northbound train tracks in thirty minutes. Do you understand?"

"Winslow?" asked Kate. "I was going to vote for that guy."

"You were going to vote?" asked Johnny.

"I'd remember to tell him to use that in his next campaign advertisement," said Monroe. "'Mayor Winslow: Number one choice of Stilwater gang members'. Except there's not going to be a next campaign advertisement. I'm sure you understand."

"But-" Kate began.

"You're wasting time," he replied. "If you fail in this task - well, you'll find your Julius' body tomorrow. Don't be late. You won't have a second chance." The line went dead.

Kate looked at the others, her eyes wide. "Seriously?" she asked.

"We don't have a fuckin' choice," said Johnny.

"This just feels bad," she said.

Dex closed his eyes. "Johnny's right," he said, quietly. "We got a choice, Julius or Winslow."

"And we don't even fucking know this Winslow guy," added Johnny.

"God damn it," said Kate, pressing a hand to her eyes. "I don't want in. This is fucked up."

"We need you as a ride-along," said Dex. "You can't just decide when you want to be in the Saints and when you don't. You have to come."

She blinked. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah. Okay."

She followed the others out to the car, and sat quietly in the back as they started to drive, lulled by the purr of the motor - and the weed, probably - into a half-sleep.

She was startled when Johnny, sitting in the front passenger seat, leaned forwards. "There," he said.

The bus was guarded closely by two FBI vehicles, one front and one behind.

Dex threw the car into a spin, coming to a halt in front of the first FBI van. The three of them jumped out of the car, weaving past the confused law enforcement officers, and jumped onto the bus.

"What are you doing here?"

Kate turned her head towards the voice. The mayor, Marshall Winslow, was sitting next to a staffer, looking up at her with alarm. She froze.

"We're taking you on a scenic tour," said Johnny, aiming his shotgun at the mayor.

"You're from Saints Row?" Winslow asked, quietly. "So was I. Born and raised."

Kate couldn't look, and turned around to watch Dex's driving. He was navigating the bus around a barricade of police cars. Sirens filled her ears.

"You can just walk away," the mayor continued. "You don't have to do this. This isn't the way forward."

Kate pressed a hand to her lips, her back stiff as she refused to look back. Her stomach felt like it was in one big knot.

"What's really going on here?" asked Winslow.

The bus bumped gently as the tyres rolled over the train tracks.

"Well, this is our stop," said Johnny. "Thanks for the ride."

Dex grabbed her arm as he leapt out of the driver's seat, dragging her out of the bus. She stumbled down the steps after him. The blare of the train's horn was almost deafening as it closed in, but the noise was nothing compared to the crashing shriek of twisting metal and breaking glass as the train hit the bus.

She stood, eyes closed, by the side of the road. Dex hadn't let go of her arm. "Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here."

She followed without a word.


	12. Too Long Awake

Kate sat with her feet in the pool, her hands resting on the warm tiles at her sides. The weather was getting cooler now, this wouldn't be possible for much longer. The sound of the waves behind her drowned out most of the noise from the city, although being so close to the airport it was impossible to forget where she was entirely.

Her phone lay just behind her, buzzing gently as it rang, rattling on the concrete. It eventually went silent. She looked back at it, uneasily. Eight missed calls. Six from Dex, one from Johnny, and one from 'unknown' which was probably the one she felt most uncomfortable about. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands.

She didn't look up when she heard footsteps on the concrete patio.

"Katie?"

It was Dex's voice. She didn't look up.

"I see you haven't lost your phone." His voice was closer. And slightly irritated. There was a pause. "Uh - are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and stared at the pool through the cracks in her fingers. "Dex-" she said. "What the fuck are we doing?"

There was a pause. "You want out?" he asked. "I'm not going to judge you if you do. You might have some trouble with the others, though."

"N-no," she said. "I don't know."

He sighed and sat down next to her. He began to unlace his shoes. "Katie. This is fucked."

She nodded her agreement.

"Are you gonna have a breakdown on me?"

Her shoulders slumped. She looked up. "Dex," she said, her voice low. "I never killed a man that didn't deserve it. Uh. At least on purpose."

He dipped his feet into the water and turned to look at her.

"Yeah," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know if that was the right thing to do. Could have some repercussions for us."

"What are we even doing this for?" she asked. "How can-"

He dropped his head, staring into the water. "It doesn't matter now," he said. "We need Julius back, and then-"

"What if they don't give him back?" she continued. "We can't just do what they want us to do forever!"

"Katie." Dex caught hold of her arm. "Calm down. That's why I'm here."

She finally turned to look up at him, her eyes wide and startled. "Really?" she asked in a small voice.

He smiled. "Yeah, really." He brushed a curl of hair out of her eyes.

She blinked at him, startled by the gesture.

"Come back to the church," he said. "I've got an idea."

She lifted her feet out of the water and back onto the sun-warmed tiles. "Okay," she said, standing up. "Let's go."

* * *

"Fuck took you so long?" Johnny asked irritably, as Kate and Dex walked into the church. "You got anything or not?"

Dex rubbed his forehead wearily. "Look. We're all sick of this shit. Let's show Monroe he can't fuck with us."

Kate frowned. "What if he takes it out on Julius?" she asked.

"He won't have a chance to," Dex said, coldly.

"Okay," said Johnny, pushing himself away from the broken pew he'd been sitting on. "Enough talking about how fucking great the plan's going to be and tell us what the plan is. I'm sick of this bullshit."

"Alright, alright." Dex held up his hands. "the mayor's funeral's today. There's gonna be an official procession and everything."

Johnny tilted his head to the side, smiling faintly. "Yeah?" he said, encouragingly.

"And the chief of police is going to have to put in an official appearance."

"I'm feeling good about where this is going," said Johnny. "Don't disappoint me."

Dex folded his arms. "We got no chance of getting into the police station. We don't know where Monroe lives. What we do know is where he's going to be at what time."

Kate's eyes widened, an incredulous smile spreading over her face. "Are you fucking serious?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm," he confirmed. "We're taking him out. This afternoon."

"You got some fucking balls," said Johnny, grinning. "Let's get ready for the party."

Two rocket launchers. One McManus. A .44 Shepherd and a handful of grenades.

The guns lay spread out on the altar in front of them. Johnny ran his hands reverently along the dull metal barrel of the rocket launcher.

"It's been too long since I've held you," he said to it as he picked it up.

Dex raised an eyebrow at Kate. She picked up the McManus, and then tucked the Shepherd into the back of her shorts.

"You sure?" asked Johnny. "You're going to be missing out on most of the fun."

"We're not planning on blowing up the whole procession," said Dex. "Only as much of it as we need to. I'm pretty sure we can do this surgical strike style if things go well."

"Then let's hope they don't," said Johnny, with a grin.

Kate helped Dex load the rest of the weapons into the trunk of his car. Johnny honked the horn twice as he sped past them.

Dex gave a tense sigh. "Hope this fuckin' works," he said.

"Yeah." Kate grinned at him. "Me too."

He returned her smile.

Kate drummed her fingers on the passenger-side armrest as he drove. "What happens if we don't get Julius back?" she asked. "What if it's just us three from now on?"

"Then," said Dex. "We pick out some promising bangers to promote. We've just fought a war, Katie. Casualties on both sides, but there's no one left who's able to challenge us before we get our shit back together."

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" she said.

"I think about a lot of things a lot." Dex kept his eyes focused on the road.

"I've noticed." She smiled sidelong at him, then looked up to the city skyline. "I wonder what happened to Troy."

Dex snorted. "Yeah," he said. "Me too."

"He told me to get out of town," she said thoughtfully.

"Did he really," Dex said bitterly. She saw him roll his eyes. "Why would he let you in on that?"

She shrugged.

"Anything ever happen between you two?" he asked.

She laughed humourlessly. "Uh - no," she said. "Do you think he knew something big was going to go down out here?"

Dex sighed irritably. "How the fuck would I know?"

"Jesus," she said. "Okay. Sorry."

"It doesn't-" He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You know how sometimes you don't know who you can trust?"

"Yeah?" she said, curiously.

But he never continued his thought. Instead, he pulled over next to the mall. The complex was large and open, a two-storied terracotta terrace with rows of shops lining the walkways. A wide glass roof arched over the centre, banners promoting Alderman Hughes for election hanging from the classical music played from the speakers.

"We going shopping?" she asked.

He had the grace to force a smile. "No," he said. "We've got everything we need right here in the trunk."

They earned a few curious glances from pedestrians as they carried the contents of their armoury up to the second level. "Hell yeah!" yelled one of them. "Do some damage!"

Katie stopped, holding the McManus in both hands, and frowned at him. "PSA!" she yelled, drawing the attention of the people walking around her. "You might want to leave the area. Don't call the cops or I'll have you shot."

The small crowd actually cheered.

"Subtle," said Dex.

"That ship sailed a long time ago," she said. "Why are people applauding?"

Dex smiled, a little more genuinely than before. "You're a hero," he said. "Well, maybe more of an anti-hero. You have fans."

She frowned at him. "That's fucked up," she said, before settling down on the corner of the building, overlooking the tree-lined street below. She looked through the scope, testing the view, then back up at Dex.

"Okay," he said. "Johnny's up there." He pointed to a nearby rooftop. Johnny waved. "Now, this isn't going to be easy. He'll be sitting in the back of the cop car, and you're only going to get one shot at this. I think you should hit him as he drives right past, but if you've got an earlier shot, take it."

"I'm good," she said. "Think I might even enjoy this."

Dex crouched next to her. "Okay, they're coming. Wait for the cop car. Surgical strike, remember - aw, shit."

Kate looked through the scope of the McManus. A row of police cars were driving down the street towards them, lights flashing.

"Fuck," said Dex. "Do you think you can still-"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out as an explosion shook the street beneath them. Kate looked up to see Johnny aiming his rocket launcher at another car.

"Fuck," said Dex, again. "Okay, fuck it. We're taking out all these cop cars."

He lifted the other rocket launcher and fired. The sound was deafening, the street on fire. Kate looked up as she heard a police helicopter overhead. She lifted the rifle and fired a precise shot into the cockpit. The pilot slumped forward over the controls as the helicopter plunged towards the ground.

"Okay," said Dex. "We got him. Calling it now. Let's get the fuck out of here or we're going to be swarmed."

They ran for the car.


	13. God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me

Haven't written in ages! So bad. The song that I'm using for this chapter is pretty much the most appropriate song for the plot in the game.

* * *

It felt like it was over. They'd sent a message - and a hell of a message at that - to whoever Monroe was working for. The Saints weren't to be fucked with.

She walked the streets in a half-daze, barely able to believe what they'd done. People kept coming up to her. The latest one to do it was a black man in his 40s, wearing a suit.

"City's yours now," he said. "You can do what you want. Don't fuck it up."

She stopped. "What?" she said. "Do I actually know you?"

"No ma'am," he replied. "But everyone knows you."

She looked around. People were watching her, some with fear and others with admiration.

"Fucking Christ," she muttered, and kept walking, her head down. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her list of contacts. Her thumb hovered over Troy's name. She hit the call button.

The phone beeped shrilly in her ear, and she pulled the phone away from her head, wincing.

"We're sorry," a tinny voice on the other end of the line said. "You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service."

"Are you fucking serious?" she said, out loud. "Where the fuck did you go?"

She scrolled back up through her contacts, and called Johnny. The phone didn't even ring.

"Hey, this is Johnny. I'm probably f-"

She hung up, closing her eyes for a moment in frustration. She looked back down at her phone. There was only Dex left. The Saints' entire leadership was down to her and two others.

She called him. The phone rang, which was encouraging at first, but as the tone kept ringing, she sighed. At last, it stopped.

"This is Dex. Leave a message."

"H-hey," she said. "Just trying to get hold of you. Or anyone. Call me back? Uh, this is Kate."

She groaned. "What in the fuck am I even doing?" she asked, out loud. She stepped out into the road, forcing a car to jam on its brakes. She walked around to the driver's side window and tapped on the glass with her gun. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm going to need this car."

The driver hopped out obligingly. "Can't believe I just got jacked by a fuckin' Saints lieutenant!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Kate paused, her hand on the gear stick, to toss him an incredulous look. "Thanks for the help?" she said, and then drove off.

She didn't know where she was going, or pay much attention to the road, she just kept driving. The gentle curve and camber of the motorway was almost soothing.

"Okay," she breathed. "Okay. This is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine."

Her phone started ringing.

"Shit," she hissed, wriggling to extract the phone from the back pocket of her denim shorts. She twisted in her seat, only one hand on the wheel. There was a crash as her car ran into the back of the car in front. The impact threw Kate forwards before she was caught by her seatbelt.

She leant down to retrieve her phone, which had fallen into the driver's side footwell. Unknown number. She frowned at it, then answered.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello young lady." The voice was familiar. "This is Alderman Richard Hughes, I don't believe we've spoken before."

"Um," she said. "No. What do you want?"

The Alderman sighed. "You wanted my attention, didn't you? I assume that's what the funeral-day massacre was about."

She didn't reply, throwing the car into reverse and pulling back out into the traffic.

"Let's - sit down and discuss this," he continued. "I've no desire to see this killing continue. I'm having something of a soiree tonight. I'll bring Julius, and we can discuss things, rationally, like functioning members of society."

"Right," she said, in her head running through the list of available people she could take with her. Johnny, hell-fucking-no; Dex, probably. If she could get hold of him. "Okay. Where and when?"

"Oh, show up any time," the Alderman said, his voice carefully casual. "We'll be there all night. If you come before eight, though, there'll be less people around." He laughed. "Not that I'm trying to keep you a secret. We're on a boat down at the marina. Not the docks, mind you, the marina."

"I got it the first time," she said, tersely. "Fine. See you there."

"I'm looking forward to it."

She hung up, swung a U-turn, and drove the wrong way down an entrance ramp. She pulled into the carpark of a nearby Freckle Bitch's. She dialled Dex again, and sighed when the call went through to voicemail again.

"Dex," she said. "Fuck. I need to talk to you. It's about Julius. Call me back."

She tossed the phone onto the passenger's seat irritably and slumped back in her seat. The fabric of the car seat was rough and scratchy against her legs. She looked down. A fundraiser. Her usual outfit, denim shorts and a purple tank top, probably wasn't going to cut it. She wondered if she could get back into Impressions again.

* * *

The sun was setting. Kate was sitting in her own car, this time, tapping her fingers against the wheel nervously. Her phone, next to her, sat quietly. No calls. Not so much as a text. She was wearing a black blazer and tailored trousers with a purple shirt underneath, and was starting to worry that she looked ridiculous.

"Fuck it," she said, after another agonizing minute, and opened the car door. She stepped out into the cold wind, and straightened her clothes. She had an SMG tucked into the back of her trousers, and a pistol in her blazer pocket.

The ship was large, but not huge. Not large enough to have a big fundraiser on. But, if all the the other invitees were really rich - maybe it was just exclusive.

She kept her fingers wrapped around the pistol as she walked down to the ship, heels clicking on the concrete, and stepped aboard. It seemed to be deserted, and she stopped, uneasily. Just as she was about to back right off, the ship disengaged from the dock, powering out into the harbour, churning the water white in its wake. She took a hesitant step towards the space in the railing, but before she could even think about jumping, a man appeared, wearing a grey suit jacket.

"Madam," he said. "If you'll come this way."

She followed him through to the front of the ship, heart thumping in her chest. A familiar figure was standing on the deck, hands clasped behind his back.

"Well thank god for that," he said. "I wasn't sure if you were going to make it."

"Hey," she said, sliding her finger around the trigger of the pistol in her pocket.

"May I say, it is a delight to finally meet you. This wouldn't have been possible without you."

She cast a grim glance towards the rest of the ship. "I'm not sure you're going to be making a lot of money off this fundraiser, now," she said.

He laughed. "Very perceptive," he said. "I really have to say that you did a stellar job. All of that nonsense at the funeral - you completely confused everyone. Winslow's targeted assassination raised some eyebrows, but your follow-up massacre did a wonderful job of obscuring all of that."

She narrowed her eyes. "So where are we going from here?"

"My dear girl," he said. "I shall be elected Mayor, and can finally launch the Saints Row redevelopment project . You've given me an opportunity like no other. The public are willing to compromise a lot as long as their safety is assured. The place is as good as bulldozed already."

Kate watched him, levelly. "So you provoked us into an extreme response so you could justify harsh methods for carrying out your own plans. I'm going to remember that."

He leaned forward, smiling. "I don't think you understand," he said. "You're not going to remember a-"

A sudden beeping noise startled both of them.

She saw his eyes widen in fear.

And then everything was gone.


	14. Out Of Touch

Time for Saints Row 2! Expect things to go wildly off-course starting… now.

* * *

Kate's limbs felt heavy and sluggish. There was something tickling - no, stuck in her nose, and another in her throat. She tried to lift her arm to her face, but something was holding her back. She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and tried to sit up.

"Don't worry." The voice was female and soothing. She lay back.

"We'll have all this off you shortly."

She could hear someone groaning nearby.

"It's not deep," said a different voice, further away this time. "Couple of stitches. Hold still for a minute."

Kate felt a gentle tugging, and then light flooded her eyes. She tried, again, to throw up a hand to cover them, but the sound of tearing fabric made her stop. She closed her eyes tightly.

"It's okay." The soothing voice was back. "You'll get used to it. I'm just going to take these tubes out."

Kate coughed as the tubes were removed from her nose and throat.

"And get the rest of these bandages off you," the voice continued.

Kate could feel cold metal as it slid along her skin. "Whuh?" she managed.

"You've been in a bad accident," said the voice. "No one thought you were going to wake up. You're only alive because the chief of police wouldn't let anyone turn your life support off."

"Gngh," Kate replied.

"There we are." She heard footsteps moving away. "Better than I expected, too. You had a fair amount of reconstructive surgery, but you seem to have recovered exceptionally."

Kate felt a sudden coldness, and then something light fall over her.

"Stay right here." She could see the owner of the voice, now, a soft, blurry outline against the blinding light. "I'll be back soon."

"Hey." This was a different voice, next to her, male and slightly accented.

She let her head slump to her right, and opened her eyes. The world was a blur of grey and brown.

"Huh?" she said.

"Is it really you?"

She blinked, trying to clear her vision. "I - don't - know," she croaked. "Who am I?"

There was a long pause. "The leader of the Saints," he said, finally, his voice uncertain.

"N-no," she said. "That was - that was always Julius." Her eyes widened, and she struggled to push herself up onto her elbows. "Where's Julius? Is he-"

"Shh," said the voice urgently. "I don't know where Julius is. You been out a long time."

She lay back down. Trying to sit up had exhausted her. "How long?"

"Mm-" he sounded uncertain. "Five years?"

"F-five years," she repeated.

"Something like that," he said. "I've come to bust you out."

"Out of what?"

"Out of _prison_." He was getting irritated, but trying to hide it.

"I thought this was a hospital," said Kate. Her vision was beginning to come back. White walls, white ceiling, dividers between rows of beds.

"It's a prison hospital," he said.

She looked over at him. Hispanic, with thick dark eyebrows and large brown eyes. He was wearing a purple beanie. And he was young – really young. "How old are you? Did they send me to fucking juvie?" she asked, and immediately wished she hadn't by the way he looked away, eyes full of hurt.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Carlos," he said, quietly.

"You're too little for Carlos." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Does your mother call you Carlito?"

She opened her eyes in time to see his frown of confusion turn into a smile. "Mm-hmm."

"Okay," she said. "Well, Carlito – how the fuck are we going to get out of this place?"

"We can either sneak out through the roof – or shoot our way out the front door."

"Second option sounds easier," she said. "Although –" she took a peek under the sheet covering her. "I don't think I'm wearing any clothes."

Carlos shrugged. "Could distract the guards?"

Kate sighed. "Guess I could wrap myself in this sheet."

"Stilwater Penitentiary toga party?" he suggested. "Or you could cut two eyeholes in it and wear it over your head like a ghost. Maybe they will be too scared to shoot."

She laughed. "Alright," she said. "Let's see how this goes." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself off. She flailed wildly as her legs refused to support her, and collapsed on the floor in a heap, the sheet landing gently on top of her.

"Uh – I don't think it's going so good," said Carlos.

The noise had attracted the doctor's attention. "Oh no," she said, hurrying over. "You mustn't get up." She bent down. She had short, curly dark hair and soft hazel eyes.

Carlos grabbed the doctor in a headlock, as Kate emerged from beneath the sheet. She looked at the doctor speculatively.

"I think I'm going to need your clothes," she said.

Carlos tied the doctor up with the sheet as Kate struggled to get into the white scrubs.

"Why the fuck do my arms and legs feel like jelly?" she snapped. "And I can't use my fucking fingers properly."

"Your time in a coma has probably resulted in some muscle atrophy," said the doctor softly. "And you may have lost some fine motor control."

Kate turned to glare at her. "This permanent?"

"You should regain both in time with a regular exercise regime," the doctor quavered. "A – a course of steroids might help."

"Got any?" Kate asked.

"There's a key in my – uh, your pocket to that cabinet over there." The doctor nodded towards the wall.

"That's very generous of you," said Kate.

The doctor offered a sickly smile.

"Say," Kate continued. "You don't happen to have any more scrubs anywhere, do you?"

When the doctor's eyes flicked towards a cupboard next to the door, Kate smiled. "You've been so helpful," she said. "I'm going to send you something once we're out. Carlito, go get all that shit."

The doctor shook her head vehemently.

"Oh, not like a bad thing," said Kate. "Not like, a bomb. Or a head. You know, something nice."

The doctor kept shaking her head.

"We'll see then," said Kate.

Carlos finished putting on the scrubs, folding his orange jumpsuit carefully and placing it on the shelf. He closed the cupboard.

"What do I need to do to get out?" Kate asked the doctor. "Is there a swipe card or a keycode or anything?"

"Card," whispered the doctor. "Trouser pocket."

"Nothing else?" Kate leaned forward a little.

"No," the doctor whimpered.

"Good." Kate tried to lift herself off the floor by holding onto the bed, but couldn't pull herself up. She turned to Carlos. "Think I'm going to need your help."

Carlos hauled her up without much effort. She was a lot taller than him. She took a hesitant step, clutching his arm for support, and then one without.

"Okay," said Kate. "Don't say anything once we're out of here, let me talk. You just point me in the right direction."

"The exit's just to the right once we're through this door."

"Got it." Kate turned back to the doctor. "What's your name?"

The doctor pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"Oh, you." Kate laughed. "I'm going to find out one day, you know."

The doctor turned visibly paler.

"Wish us luck," Kate said. "I recommend you don't scream for, say, an hour." She staggered over and pulled the cubicle curtain around, hiding the doctor from view.

"Let's go," she said to Carlos.

He opened the door for her. They were in what seemed to be the back entranceway to the prison. There were cells on one side, and large double doors to the other. Two guards were watching the prisoners in the cells.

She took a deep breath. "Just heading out for a smoke," she said, as she held the keycard against the panel on the door. "See you in five."

"Bad for your health," one of the guards said half-heartedly as Carlos pushed the door open.

Kate laughed. "Tell me about it," she said.

"How's the prisoner?" asked the other.

"Don't think she'll be getting up any time soon," replied Kate.

"Heh. Good."

The door closed behind them.

She grabbed Carlos' arm again, leaning on him heavily. The prison courtyard was dark and wet, a searchlight roaming the grounds in the pounding rain. They walked, together, straight down the middle, quickly getting soaked.

"Not bad," he said. "You're still pretty sharp. Wasn't thinking we'd get out of there without a fight."

"I don't think I'm in much of a shape for a fight," she said. "And it's not over yet. Where now?"

"We're on an island," said Carlos.

"Please tell me we're not going to have to swim."

He laughed. "Nah, should be a boat down by the docks."

"Should be?" repeated Kate. "That's – reassuring."

He shrugged. "It's there," he said, though he sounded less confident.

They began to walk, following the road as it wound down the hill. Kate let go of his arm as they passed a patrol of two guards, making sure to keep their distance.

"Romantic walk?" asked one. The other guard sniggered.

Kate stifled the flood of adrenaline and laughed uncomfortably. The patrol seemed to be satisfied, and walked onward.

"Christ," said Kate. "Okay. Going well. Going well."

"You ever meet my brother?" asked Carlos.

"What?" Kate turned her head to look at him, startled.

"I had a brother in the Saints. Said he rolled with you a couple times."

She blinked. "Last name?" she asked.

"Mendoza."

She closed her eyes. "Nothing straight away," she said. "But I think my memory might be a little bit fucked."

"You seem like you're doing pretty good so far," he said. They were coming towards the end of the road. Kate could see the lights of the city over the water. The waves were huge and rolling and the wind blowing a gale, rain blowing in their faces so hard it stung.

She was struggling to keep up with Carlos, now, as he hurried towards the dock. She was exhausted already, her heart pounding from the short walk. He pulled her into the shadows as another patrol walked past, then half-carried her down the ramp to a prisoner transport boat.

"Can you man the gun?" he asked.

She grimaced and settled down at the stern of the ship, behind a machine gun mounted at the back. "Yeah," she said.

She felt the boat rumble to life. They pulled away from the dock, the boat lurching in the rough sea. Just as they were pulling away, she heard the howl of the prison alarm.

"That wasn't an hour," Kate said, but she was smiling.

They had a decent lead. Probably wouldn't be able to get helicopters organised for another five minutes. Still, with the way the sea was, they probably wouldn't end up with much of a head start. Her fingers touched the trigger of the machine gun gently.

"So where is everyone?" she yelled back to Carlos. "Where are we going?"

"Everyone?" she could barely hear Carlos over the wind. "There is no everyone. Saints are gone, man."

"What?" she asked, wiping rain from her face. "What about Dex?"

"Who?"

"Troy?" she tried.

He didn't reply.

"Johnny?"

"Think he's in prison."

"Are you shitting me?" she yelled. "We _just came_ from the fucking prison!"

He was silent a moment. "Do you want us to go back?"

She could see boats pulling away from the docks after them. "Fuck's sake, no!" She paused. "The church still around?"

"Not the way it used to be. After the Saints were gone Ultor bought up a lot of the Row."

"Ultor," Kate said quietly to herself. It was familiar. "_Ultor dome_ Ultor?"

"My advice is don't go there," yelled Carlos. "Not straight away. Too different. It'll be a shock."

Kate frowned at the skyline, then turned back to the machine gun. The boats were closing in. She sighted along the barrel, and narrowed her eyes. She smiled.


	15. Karma Chameleon

Slight throwback to chapter one :)

* * *

Kate was standing, alone and shivering, on the sidewalk. Her clothes were soaked with rain and sea spray, and the street lights were dim in the misty darkness.

No car. No money. No guns.

Carlos had made a call from a payphone, and been picked up maybe five minutes later. He'd offered her a ride, but she hadn't felt like crashing any kind of family reunion – and the cops would be looking for people matching their descriptions. Best they weren't seen together.

No phone. No map.

She didn't know anyone. The map didn't matter that much. It didn't feel like she'd been away that long, surely she'd be able to remember where everything was.

No car.

That was a problem. Carjacking was going to be hard, with her shaky limbs and the weakness of her arms. She might be able to get someone to stop, but hauling them out of their car was another story. She could probably hotwire a car. Maybe. Her hands were still unsteady and she didn't have a penknife or something to strip and cut the wires with. But, then again, in a pinch she could use a piece of broken glass. Troy had really been the one to show her how to do this, with slow, methodical steps. She sighed. Maybe he'd really left town and ever come back.

No underwear.

Well, she couldn't take _that_ off the doctor. It wasn't really a problem.

She began to walk, head down and shoulders hunched against the thinning rain. She'd lost so much. Not counting the five missing years , there had been the cash, the mansions, the attrazione she'd taken from the Rollerz headquarters and had painted a shimmering purple. The Colombians. She actually groaned out loud. The _Colombians_. They'd never even had a chance to set up regular shipments and distribution rings. Some other gang had probably swooped in and picked up where they'd left off.

She followed the waterfront, walking along the sidewalk. Well, a combination of walking and staggering, and sitting down with her feet in the gutter and her head between her knees when she felt like she might pass out.

The sidewalk dipped down into an underpass. This – this was familiar. Rebadeaux. Wasn't it? When she'd driven here in the past, she always took the underpass a little too fast, the suspension crunching a little as she hit the bottom, then all four wheels leaving the ground as she came back up on the other side. And then overhead was that strip club she'd done some driving for. That meant she was almost at the Row. She followed the road down. Bright neon lines glowed overhead, and the decorative chequerboard sidewalk was filthy, but – she recognised it. Sort of. When she came out the other side, the familiarity dropped away.

Kate kept walking, her steps getting steadier. Carlos had said she shouldn't go back to Saints Row so soon, but in a mostly-unfamiliar city it seemed like finding it might give her some of the answers she was looking for.

Mission Beach. She slowed down, and came to a halt. It was a cluster of high-rise buildings, steel and glass and concrete.

Her old house – the whole tiny U-shaped street she'd lived on – she couldn't even figure out where it had been. Back when she'd lived there, there had been a construction project going on across the road that never seemed to get anywhere. Now – if it was now this gaudy block of apartments, which was almost in the right place, then her house was now – a cosmetic surgeon's? She turned around, staring at the buildings in bewilderment. The whole neighbourhood was gone. It hadn't been a particularly good neighbourhood, if she was going to be honest – there had been drive-bys and gang battles and, if she was going to be really really honest, at least one dangerous driver – but the kids could, most of the time, play in the streets.

She completed a circuit of the block, trying to re-examine the buildings, fit them in with the images she had in her memory, as if she would be able to find her old apartment if she just looked hard enough. It was impossible. They must have flattened the entire neighbourhood; ripped up the roads and the water and sewage pipes and electricity cables and telephone wires and started from nothing.

There were closely-cropped grass verges, stark modern art sculptures, water features lit with brightly coloured fluorescent lights. It was starting to seem more and more dreamlike as each moment passed. The memory of golden autumn sunlight and auburn leaves falling from the trees seemed harder and harder to hold onto.

She turned the corner, again, and she was back where she started. She turned away, in despair. Where would she go now? She hadn't realised that so much of her identity was tied up in being a goddamn gang member.

And then she saw it. The church. It wasn't where it should be. Was it? It seemed too close to the bridge. And it was different. The tags had been cleaned off, yes, and the broken windows fixed, but – was that what it had always looked like?

She almost didn't want to see what it looked like inside, but her feet were taking her there anyway. She stepped in through the front door. It was deserted. Her footsteps echoed in the silence.

It was tidier than she'd ever seen it. The pews were in lines down either side of the central aisle. Light shone in through the stained glass windows. A tapestry was laid over the altar, almost touching the floor.

There were stairs, up to the second floor. She followed the curving stairway, holding her breath. She'd never been up here before. The second floor was more of a balcony around the edges of the room. There were plaques lining the walls. She pushed a button underneath one of them, experimentally.

_"Hello, and welcome to Stilwater Memorial Church."_

Kate froze. She recognised that voice.

"_My name is Julius Little, and it's no secret I've wasted many years of my life being a part of the gang problem here in Stilwater."_

She took a step back in horror. "No," she said. "Oh my Jesus, no."

"_Fortunately, the Ultor corporation has given me a second chance. Join me, as I take you through the past and future of Saint's Row."_

Her heart was thumping in her chest almost painfully. She took another step back, then another, and then turned around and ran back down the stairs and out of the church.

She kept running, hyperventilating, pulse racing. She needed to get out of Mission Beach, and she ran back the way she'd come, back to something she recognised. She didn't stop until she was back at the underpass. The glowing lights of the strip club over the underpass were familiar, at least, and she walked in the front entrance.

"I used to work here," she said, to the bartender.

The bartender smiled. "And now you're a doctor, huh?" he said. "See, stripping your way through college can really pay off. First one's on the house, then."

Kate flushed. "Uh," she said. "Not –" She'd been doing to say 'not as a dancer', but the free drink seemed too good to pass up.

She sat down at the bar as the bartender placed a glass of champagne in front of her. She dropped her elbows on the table and hunched over her drink.

Fucked. Everything was fucked.

The TV was playing quietly, almost just background noise, when she heard a familiar name.

"_-Johnny Gat facing death row-"_

She looked up, startled. There was a photograph of Johnny on the screen.

"_Final appeal is today-"_

"Can you change the channel?" the man next to her asked.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Wait. Just a minute."

"Are you seriously watching the news in a strip club?" The man next to her was wearing red, and glaring at her.

"That's my friend," she protested.

"Johnny Gat – is your friend?" he repeated.

"Yes," she snapped, distracted.

"Then – who are-" he said.

"_Reporting live from the courtroom, this is Jane Valderrama."_

Kate stood up, knocking over her bar stool. "Have to go!" she said, and ran out of the bar, still carrying her glass of champagne.

She ran for the road, and leapt into the back seat of a car waiting at the lights.

"Need to go to the courthouse," she said, breathing heavily.

The driver, a woman in her 40s, stared at her. "Or what?" she asked, irritably.

"Or else I'll smash this glass against the car door, and stab you with it," replied Kate.

"No need to mess up my car," huffed the woman, and accelerated through the lights.

Kate hung on to her glass and the door handle as they hurtled through the streets, screeching around corners and speeding past cars on the wrong side of the road. When she pulled over, Kate almost tumbled out of the car with her haste to get inside.

"Thanks," she wheezed, as she tried to slam the car door shut again, but couldn't manage it. She entered the building at what felt like a glacial pace, limping and unsteady.

One of the court staff pointed her upstairs. She shuffled along, stumbling up the stairs, and opened the door to the courtroom.

Johnny was standing in the dock, next to Legal Lee. The judge was seated above them, her black hair immaculately coiffed.

"I think I'm going to enjoy watching you fry, Mr Gat," the judge said, leaning forward. "You know they're having to put in extra seating."

"I object!" Kate announced. "The judge is clearly prejudiced. I move to declare a mistrial."

The judge looked up, annoyed. "Who are you?" she asked.

Kate felt the weight of everyone's attention on her. Legal Lee was staring, bemused, the judge was glaring, and Johnny – Johnny was just watching her in disbelief. Kate looked down at herself, still in hospital scrubs.

"Hey!" said Johnny.

"Please don't speak," said Kate, loudly. "You need to save your strength." She turned to the judge. "This is my patient. He's very ill."

"I don't see how that's a problem," said the judge. "Given that he's got a week to live, tops."

"It's contagious," posited Kate. "He needs to be quarantined immediately.

The judge narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm –" Kate paused, racking her brain for an answer. "Doctor… Katherine."

"No last name?"

"I- I'm a celebrity doctor," Kate said, hoping the expression on her face wasn't giving away her discomfort. "Like Doctor Phil. One name only."

The judge raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And what are you trying to tell us is wrong with the defendant?'

"It's so rare it doesn't have a name yet," Kate said. "But, uh, I'm hoping to name it after myself."

"Katherine's disease?" said the judge, flatly. She turned to Legal Lee. "I don't know what you're trying to pull here," she said. "But I'm going to hold the whole lot of you in contempt if you don't get that woman out of my courtroom right now."

Before the guard at the door could move, she grabbed the gun from his holster and kicked him in the side of the knee. It wasn't as hard as she wanted, but he toppled to the floor anyway.

"Johnny," she yelled. "We're getting the fuck out of here!"

They ran through a hail of bullets, back down the stairs. Kate stumbled, just outside the courthouse, and almost fell down the steps. Johnny grabbed her by the arm and dragged her upright, flinging her into an empty police car and jumping behind the wheel. They pulled out into the road.

"So," said Johnny. "You really love that last-minute rescue thing, don't you?"

Kate was exhausted, but still managed to smile. "Thanks for saving me, Kate," she wheezed. "Good job dodging all those bullets."

Johnny grinned. "Some things never change, huh?" he said. "Also, _damn_, you look terrible. All white and skinny."

Kate was almost getting her breath back. "I haven't eaten for five years," she said. "Or been outside. Not my fuckin' fault!" She took a better look at him. "Also, Jesus. Have you just been lifting weights the entire time you've been in jail?"

He laughed. "Pretty much, yeah. You'd be surprised how many people try to take you on in the Pen."

"What were you even in for?" she asked.

"Oh, tried to kill Troy," he said, nonchalantly.

"What?" she asked. "Why?"

He laughed humourlessly. "Because he's a fuckin' cop, that's why."

"What?" Her eyes widened. "Wait, are you sure we weren't just sending him in undercover? Dex had this idea-"

"Yeah," he sneered. "I'm sure. And I don't even want to fuckin' talk about Dex right now."

Kate sat back in her seat. "Julius works for Ultor," she said quietly. "Some sort of custodian. Saw the new church."

Johnny seemed to slump a little. "You serious?" he asked. "Well, shit. Guess that's the whole gang accounted for."

They drove in silence for a minute or two. Kate leaned forward to turn on the radio. She skipped through the stations.

"Um," she said. "Where's The Faction?"

"Closed down, I think," replied Johnny. Kate's face fell.

"Shit, it's not like there aren't a whole ton of other shitty stations on out there," he said.

She flicked through the stations again. She didn't recognise a single song, until –

"Are you fuckin' serious?" Johnny asked. "Karma Chameleon?"

She looked up at him. "There are two things I recognise in this city right now," she said, her voice low and quiet. "You, and this song. That's it. I really, really need familiar things right now, because I have no fucking idea what's going on. So just let me have it."

"Yeah, whatever," said Johnny. "Calm down. If you want to listen to shitty music, feel free. No need to get upset about it."

"Where we going?" Kate asked, closing her eyes.

"I'm going to drop you at a safehouse," said Johnny. "And then I'm going home to 'Eesh."

"No fucking way!" Kate sat up in her chair. "You guys still together? That's great!"

Johnny grinned again. "Yeah," he said. "It is."

He pulled into a side street next to an old block of townhouses.

"Sorry it's not much," he said. "Saints don't command the same kind of real estate that we used to."

She got out of the car.

"Take this," he said, handing her a cellphone. "I'm gonna call you tomorrow. But, as for right now – the pussy calls."

She watched him drive away until he was out of sight.


	16. Here's Your Future

Kate was woken by an unfamiliar beeping. The cellphone Johnny had given her was ringing, the glowing screen flashing brightly in the dim basement apartment.

She picked it up and stared at it, uncomprehending. It took her a few seconds to hunt down the answer button on the screen.

"Hey," she croaked.

Johnny laughed. "I wake you up?"

"What time is it?"

"Half past eleven. What, you haven't slept enough in the past five years?"

"Fuck you," she said half-heartedly. "What are we doing?"

"Come over to my place," he said. "We live in the suburbs. Near the old Rollerz mansion, actually. I'll send you a message with the address. Jack another shitty little Socialite and get over here."

She laughed. "See you soon."

She slipped the phone into the pocket of the scrubs she was still wearing, and hit the lightswitch. A bare bulb illuminated the room weakly. It was the first time she'd really taken a good look around. It was filthy and bare, pipes running along the walls. It wasn't really an apartment – it was more of a store-room, or a maintenance room . There was a boiler in one corner, and the bed she'd slept in was more like a mattress with cushions on it. But it was somewhere, at least.

There was a small mirror on the wall, spotted with age and dampness. She peered into it.

Something looked – different. Her nose? Jaw? She'd been in an explosion – maybe they hadn't put her back together quite the same way. Or maybe she was imagining it. Her eyes were the same familiar blue, and her dark blonde hair wasn't that different. After five years it should be longer, shouldn't it? Though maybe they'd had to shave it if they did any surgery on her.

She didn't have any other clothes to get changed into, so she scraped her hair back into a ponytail and left the room.

Walking was still difficult. Her legs were less shaky, but her balance seemed to be slightly off. While she had a gun this time, she wasn't feeling up to a carjacking – if whoever she picked tried to fight back, even so much as a shove away, she'd probably lose. Hotwiring it was.

She walked almost a block before she saw a beaten up Halberd parked behind an apartment building. She smashed the back seat window, unlocked the doors, and got inside, reaching under the steering wheel.

She was stripping the wires with a piece of the broken glass when a memory suddenly leapt into her head. They were at the docks, her and Troy and some other kid, stealing a truck full of drugs from the Carnales.

"_Wish I'd paid more attention when they were teaching this," _he'd said.

She groaned, out loud. "For fuck's sake," she said. She hadn't thought much about it at the time, but now she saw it in a whole new light. Maybe he'd even been in a goddamn classroom.

She sighed, and touched two wires together. The car sprang into life. Kate pulled out of the parking lot and into the street.

Keeping the car steady was surprisingly hard. The speed the car was moving at was making her dizzy, the road and cars and buildings almost blurry.

The Misty Lane suburbs were blessedly familiar; the motorway off ramp, the Foreign Power dealership, the gently curving streets. To the west, however, another suburb had arisen. That had just been sea in the past – hadn't it? It must have been reclaimed land, built up out of the water.

Johnny was waiting for her outside his two-story house. It looked just like a normal house, in a normal suburb, painted white with a grass verge out the front. He laughed when he saw her car. "Goddamn," he said. "I see your driving hasn't improved any."

Kate turned back to look at the car. The car's hood had been pushed up almost blocking the windscreen, from where she'd T-boned a car while trying to turn out of a street. There was a streak of paint missing on one side, where she'd scraped it against a parked car as she tried to turn a corner, and the rear bumper was missing. She wasn't sure when that had come off.

"I think the coma did something weird to my balance," she said. "Driving was really hard."

"Sure," said Johnny. "Blame the coma. Come on inside."

The interior of the house was tidy, decorated in pale neutral tones.

"Want a beer?" Johnny asked, opening the fridge. "Got no champagne, sorry."

Kate laughed. "Sweet of you to remember," she said. "Beer's fine."

"Eesh!" Johnny yelled. "We got company. Come on down."

"Who is it?" Aisha called from upstairs.

"It's a surprise!"

"Is it Kate?"

Johnny looked up at Kate and shook his head. "Guess that was an easy one," he said. "Had to tell her how I got out."

Kate leaned against the back of the sofa and watched Aisha come down the stairs. She took the beer that Johnny offered.

Aisha was dressed in a cream pantsuit, her hair cropped short. A smile spread over her face as she descended the stairs.

"Well, hi," she said. "You look-" she hesitated. "Good."

"Pretty sure I look like shit," said Kate. "But thanks. You look good too. What have you been up to these past five years?"

Aisha ran a hand over her short hair. "Well," she said. "Being dead, I don't get out that often. I spend a little time in the studio, but it's mostly plausible b-sides and whatever else I can get away with."

Kate looked sideways at Johnny. "You set her up with a new identity?" she asked. "Right?"

He held up his hands. "Been in jail, here."

"Fucking serious?" asked Kate. "Christ." She turned to Aisha. "Your sister still in town?"

Aisha shook her head. "Took off for the capital a few years back."

Kate clasped her hands together. "Okay. As soon as – soon as we get some – contacts…" She trailed off.

Johnny grinned. "See, this is what I need you for, man. You got all these ideas. You on board with starting this show up again?"

Kate saw Aisha frown slightly.

"What would we even do?" Kate asked. "I don't know shit about what's happening in this city any more."

"All right." Johnny sat down on the couch, and motioned for her to sit next to him. "We got three gangs, right? Sons of Samedi – mostly drug runners but god_damn_ are they crazy. There's the Brotherhood, who're well-armed but dumb as shit, and then there's the Ronin. Well organised, well-funded."

Kate leaned back into the sofa. The idea of starting from zero, again – was intimidating. It was a huge task. "Can we talk about the others?" she asked. "Like, how Troy's a cop-"

Johnny laughed. "Is that all I told you? Oh no. Not just any cop. Chief of fuckin' Police."

Kate's eyes widened. "What? How? What?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say he got fast-tracked up the career ladder because of his gang experience," said Johnny thoughtfully. "Never got the chance to congratulate him in person. Funny thing, though, prison guards started going a lot easier on me once he made Chief."

She tilted her head to one side. "Interesting," she said. "Okay. What's this thing about Dex?"

"Oh, Jesus," said Johnny, letting his head fall backwards against the back of the sofa. "Works for Ultor. Pretty high up, too. Got out of the Saints just before everything went down. Good fuckin' timing. Little too good, if you ask me."

"Guess him and Julius take lunch breaks together," said Kate glumly.

Johnny laughed. "Probably," he said. "So. You in?"

Kate folded her arms. "Give me a day," she said. "I just want to, like, figure out this city again. Drive around. See what the gangs are like. Shit like that. You know?"

Johnny drained his beer. "Yeah," he said. "Whatever. Try not to crash your shitheap of a car too badly. And get some fuckin' clothes."

Kate looked down at herself. The scrubs she was wearing were getting worn and wrinkled. "Good idea," she said. "See you tomorrow, Johnny. Aisha."

She walked down the path and out to the street. Her car looked even worse, somehow. She got in anyway, used the wires to start the car once more, and pulled out into the street, gears crunching. She drove, slowly and mostly uneventfully, back to her basement apartment and closed the door behind her.

She dialled numbers into her phone. It was almost as if she was unable to stop herself. She closed her eyes.

"Stilwater police department." The voice on the other end was cool and professional.

"Uh, I'd like to speak to the chief of police," she said.

"May I ask what this is about?"

Kate paused. "It's about the recent escapee from Stilwater Pen."

"Is this a media enquiry? We're referring those to our communications spokesman."

"No," said Kate. "It's more of a tip."

"We have a dedicated tip-line on 1-800-"

"No," Kate said, again. "I really only want to speak to Troy. He – uh, he knows me. Ask him if you like. My name's – Katherine."

The woman sighed. "I'll call up to his office to see if he'll take it," she said. "One moment, please."

Kate closed her eyes as tinny hold music started to play. There was no way in hell this was a good idea. It was ridiculous. It was foolish. She should just hang-

The hold music stopped. There was silence for a long moment, then an almost inaudible exhalation of breath.

"Hello?" asked Troy.

Kate took a deep breath. "Hey," she said.

He hung up.

She took the phone away from her ear and stared at it.

"Fuck," she said. Stupid idea. _Stupid._

She was still staring at it when it rang. She blinked at it for a second. It was a cellphone number. She hit the answer button and lifted it to her ear.

"What the fuck are you doing?" asked Troy.

"I just-" she began.

"Just thought you'd fuckin' call me up at work? See how I was doing?"

"I -"

"Want to take your shot at me too? Noticed you busted Gat out of jail, maybe you two could work something out together."

"_Jesus_, Troy, what the fuck-"

"You're asking _me_ what the fuck? I should be asking _you_ what the fuck."

"If you'd let me _fucking talk_ I'd explain!"

There was a long sigh. "Okay, Katie. What do you want?"

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. _Katie. _"I just wanted to talk to you."

He snorted. "Yeah. Sure. You want to talk."

"Johnny said you'd been investigating the boat explosion."

There was a pause. "Yeah," he said, finally. "You – you remember any of it?"

She ran a hand through her hair. "A little? I was talking to – that guy. The Alderman. It was dark. That's – that's all I've got."

"You remember anything he said?"

Kate frowned. "He was – threatening me. He said something important, but – I don't remember what that was."

"Helpful," said Troy.

She closed her eyes. "I want to see you," she said, quietly.

Troy laughed. "Yeah," he said. "Sure. Come into the station any time you like. Just give them your name at the desk."

Kate laughed too, but uneasily. "That wasn't really what I was thinking," she said. "Somewhere more neutral, maybe?"

"That sounds like a great idea too," said Troy. "I'd just end up dead at the end. Is that how this plan goes?"

She frowned. "I don't want to kill you, Troy," she said. "I'm just – I woke up, a day ago. It feels like it's been a couple of weeks since everything – everything happened, but it's been five years, and I'm trying to just – put everything back together."

There was a long silence. "And why do you think I'd help you with that?" he asked.

"The doctor told me you wouldn't let them turn my life support off."

This time the silence drew out so long that she wasn't even sure that he was still there.

"Fuck," he said, at last. "Alright. Listen. I'll call you, tomorrow, with a location. You'll have fifteen minutes to get there. You'll come alone. If you're late, or if anyone else shows up, I'm out."

"Okay," said Kate. "I'll be waiting."


	17. Every Single Line Means Something

I really love the original Saints Row characters. Expect to see them a lot.

* * *

Kate took a deep breath, and stepped outside. Cash. She needed cash. Clothes – once she'd sorted out the cash out, that shouldn't be such a problem. And she needed a better car. She cast a sideways glance at the Halberd. It had been pretty shit even before she'd crashed it a few times, if she was honest. Still, it wasn't smoking yet.

She got back in and headed north, over the bridge. She was trying not to damage the car any more than she already had, but actually staying in the right lane and staying at a moderate speed was harder than she remembered. She drove along the waterfront at the north end of the island. This part of town, at least, made sense. She remembered it, although not as well as she would have liked to. She pulled over in front of a line of stores, parking half on the sidewalk and half into the street. They looked high-end. Robbing stores was easy money, but she wasn't sure she could cope with the getaway.

She walked into a shoe shop. The shoes were stunningly high, with tapering stiletto heels and bright colours. She picked one up, experimentally, and turned it over.

There was a store assistant coming over, probably to make sure she wasn't stealing, and Kate turned to her.

"Do you think I could get these in a purple sole instead of a red sole?" she asked.

"Well – you could, I guess," said the assistant, in heavily accented English. "But why would you want to do that? You'd be devaluing it by at least fifty per-" She stopped, eyes wide. "Oh."

Kate turned towards her. The assistant was slender, with large brown eyes and a slick of red lipstick. Her dark hair was swept across her forehead and back into an elegant twist.

"Oh," said Kate, back. "It's you. From the mansion."

"That's right," she said, eyes flashing. "From the mansion. I hope you enjoyed it."

"Didn't really get the chance," said Kate. "Luz, wasn't it? You – work here?"

Luz's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Yes," she said, sulkily.

"I thought you'd left town."

"I – had," Luz admitted, looking away. "To Colombia with Manuel. But now – he says I am not necessary. He sends me back here to – to manage distribution, he says. He just wants me out of the picture so he can get together with Daniela."

Kate put the shoe back down on the glass shelf. "The Colombians are still in the game?" she asked. "That's good."

Luz huffed. "Hardly. Market share's not so good lately, everyone's wanting this Loa dust. Still." She shrugged. "I move what I can but there are so many Ronin here it's hard to get anywhere on my own. So – I work here."

Luz took a step back, looking Kate up and down. "What about you, then?" she sneered. "You get a medical degree while you were in a coma?"

Kate put her hands on her hips. "Well, when I broke out of the Pen, this is all I could take. And now it's all I own. Little hard up for cash."

"Join the club," said Luz unhappily. "So you won't be buying…" She trailed off, looking at Kate thoughtfully.

"What?" Kate asked, uneasily.

"I think we might be able to help each other out," said Luz, a smile spreading over her face. "You have a cash flow problem – and I have a distribution problem. Manuel has given me a-" she hesitated – "a protection budget."

Kate ran her tongue over her teeth. "That sounds – interesting," she said. She had the sense that she was standing on the edge of a precipice, about to step off. "Got anything in the way of weaponry? I'm a little light."

Luz smiled. "My car is just outside," she said. "Why don't we go have a look at it?"

Luz's car was a pale blue convertible that shone in the sunlight. Luz took a quick look around, making sure no one was close enough to see inside, and popped the trunk.

"Oh," said Kate. There was a shotgun, an SMG, and a Krukov, lying there, gleaming. "Well." She reached out to touch the barrel of the shotgun reverentially. "That's – awfully tempting."

"Let me just close up the shop for a minute," said Luz, fishing in her bag for her keychain.

"I guess it would be helpful to re-establish ties with the Colombians," Kate murmured.

"Manuel would like that," said Luz, looking at her critically. "And after we are finished I will take you shopping. I think you might need my help."

"Sounds like fun," said Kate, picking up the rifle experimentally. "So, the Ronin, is it? I have a good feeling about this."

She climbed into the car next to Luz, but facing backwards, wrapping her leg around the seat.

"You have to sit like that?" asked Luz. "It's distracting."

"It's for stability," snapped Kate. "It's easier." She rested the Krukov next to the headrest. "See?"

Luz waved a hand. "Whatever you want," she said.

Their car didn't attract much attention at first. Luz was a fairly careful driver and the locations she'd chosen seemed to be discreet. She made a few quiet deals, hopping out of the car to talk to a customer for a minute then getting back in. It wasn't until they'd been on the road for half an hour or so that Kate noticed anything.

"Guy on a motorbike looks like he's following us," she said.

"What colour's he wearing?" asked Luz.

"Black and yellow."

"That's them."

Kate looked back at him. "I'll just wait until he starts – okay, okay, he's started shooting at us." She squinted down the sights of the rifle and fired a burst at the rider. They were knocked from their seat, the bike spinning out of control, kicking up sparks as it scraped against the asphalt.

"Not a bad start," said Luz, noncommittally. "But there will be more."

"I'm counting on it," said Kate.

More cars were coming at them, weaving through the traffic. Kate fired, but the recoil of the muzzle was too hard for her shaky arms to compensate for, and she couldn't keep the barrel straight.

"Got anything?' asked Kate. "Like, you know. Anything to keep my hands steady?"

Luz cast a critical glance towards her. "Sample _llello_ in the glove box," she said. "If you really need it - help yourself."

Kate twisted around in her seat and yanked the glove box open. A small packet of white powder fell to the floor. She retrieved it, tapped a small amount onto the back of her wrist, and snorted it.

"Fuckin' Jesus," she said, as her nose began to burn. "Is this even cut?"

Luz smiled. "If there's even anything the Colombians won't screw you on, it's their _llello_. Everything else-" she waved a hand in the air. "Fair game. Assholes."

Kate pulled her pistol from the back of her waistband and knelt on the seat, facing backwards once more. She lifted her arm.

"What are you doing?" yelled Luz. "Get down, they're shooting at us!"

There was a yellow car tailing them, and another Ronin on a bike.

"I am at least 90% sure I can still do this," said Kate, as she lined up the gun, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet pierced the visor of the motorbike helmet. The rider dropped, bonelessly, into the street. The Ronin car, following behind closely, couldn't get out of the way in time and drove over the body. Kate laughed in delight as the Ronin swerved and braked at the same time, spinning to a stop with bloodstained tyre tracks. "Did you see that?" she yelled.

"I'm watching the road," Luz snapped. "You watch the Ronin."

"Relax," said Kate. "You have nothing to worry about. Wait, does that guy have a fucking _sword_?"

Another car was coming up behind them. Kate used both hands to aim and sent a bullet through the windshield of the yellow car, which slowly ground to a halt. The driver must have fallen forward onto the steering wheel, as the car let out a long blast on its horn.

"Okay," said Luz. "I saw that one. Not bad."

The wind was blowing Kate's hair back against her face, and the feeling of the warm sunshine and cool air against her skin made her feel almost invincible.

They pulled into an empty parking building, and Kate took the opportunity to retrieve the Krukov, firing indiscriminately at the crush of cars that was trying to block their way out.

Luz hopped back in the car. "Well, that's all," she said, her voice raised over the sound of gunfire. "I will take you to the mall. You need new clothes." Luz curled her lip as she looked at Kate's scrubs, dusty and stained and splattered with blood. "_Stat._"

The mall was on the corner where she'd stood, five years ago, about to assassinate the chief of police. The memory of it was so vivid she found it hard to breath. She'd been standing here with Dex, Johnny was on a neighbouring rooftop, the procession had come from the street running alongside.

"Come on," said Luz impatiently.

Kate dragged herself out of her reverie and followed her inside.

Luz had a good eye for fashion, Kate had to admit. Even if she had a tendency to swing towards red as a colour choice.

"Purple," Kate had said. "We wear purple."

"Purple looks terrible on eighty percent of people," Luz said. "Trust me, you look better in red."

"_Purple_," Kate insisted.

Luz shook her head, but didn't argue any more.

Kate had ended up with so many bags she found it hard to carry all of them. She had tight snakeskin pants, leather miniskirts, shirts, pairs of jeans, jackets and some truly ridiculous shoes. She'd even been able to find a purple singlet, denim cutoffs, and canvas shoes, her old favourite outfit.

"You are just going to wear that all the time, aren't you?" said Luz. "Ridiculous. After all the effort I put in to making you look amazing."

"You sound like Stefan," murmured Kate.

"Don't you even talk to me about Stefan," said Luz venomously. "That little snake."

"He's an A-grade asshole," agreed Kate. "Look – I should be going."

Luz nodded. "After clothes, your pay comes to – three-five?" She sounded almost uncertain, but it had been more than Kate was expecting.

"Sure thing," said Kate. "Thanks. It's been fun." She hesitated. "You should – give me your number. I'd be interested in working something out with the Colombians, if they're struggling lately."

Luz looked at her through wary eyes. "You would need to expand your operations," she said. "Maybe take on the Samedi. Is that what you're planning?"

Kate froze. "I – haven't decided yet," she said. But her words didn't even sound convincing in her own ears.


	18. Hazel Street

This was actually harder to write than I was expecting (considering I have been planning it for ages?!) hence the kind of delay.

Warning: extremely talky.

* * *

Troy's call came just as she bit into a burger. Processed beef, plastic cheese, pickles that tasted like a little like metal and sauce that she couldn't identify, all in one glorious bite. It was the first real food she'd paid any attention to since leaving the prison, and it tasted like artery-clogging heaven.

She struggled to swallow her mouthful as the phone rang, desperately gulping from the huge plastic cup of soda so she could answer in time.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Meet me at the Marina District. Café at the south end of the strip. Fifteen minutes. Wait for me there. Don't tell anyone, don't bring anyone. And don't fuckin' wear purple."

"Don't wear a fucking uniform, then," she said.

The line went dead.

She turned dubiously to look at the clothes she'd bought, still in bags strewn over the floor. There really had been a lot of purple. Purple and black. She began tossing the clothes onto the bed, hurriedly, messily, trying to throw an outfit together. She finally settled on the black snakeskin trousers Luz had insisted on and a black silk shirt with a purple collar. Close enough.

The midday sun was blazing as she ran up the stairs from her basement apartment. She didn't have much time – she'd have to drive fast. She narrowed her eyes, got into the car, and hit the gas pedal.

She parked on the boardwalk – which she wasn't sure she was allowed to do, but she was running late enough that she didn't care. The café itself was a little run down, with a brick façade and empty plastic tables and chairs outside. She took a seat at a table and checked her phone. She was almost ten minutes late. She grimaced. Had he left already? Cancelled the whole thing?

"Hey."

She looked up. It was Troy, wearing a dark blue jersey and jeans. His hair was shorter, and – there was something else different that she couldn't quite figure out. She saw him notice the purple of her collar, but he didn't say anything.

"Why'd you pick this place?" she asked, as casually as she could. "It's a dump."

"Because it's a dump," he said. "Not really looking for an audience right now."

He still sounded the same. Kate smiled. "That is one hell of a cop moustache," she said.

Troy hesitated, for a moment, and then sat down opposite her.

"I don't mean it in a bad way," she continued. "But Jesus, if you'd had something like that with the Saints we'd have figured you out first thing."

Troy was different. He sat straighter, watched her more closely. Silently.

"Did you grow it so you'd look more like a chief of police?" she asked. "Is it like an image thing?"

She saw a flicker of discomfort in his eyes, and smiled.

"I wasn't sure it was really you," he said.

"Until now?"

"Until now." He fixed her with a piercing stare. "They said you weren't gonna wake up."

"You disappointed?" She leaned back in her seat a little, crossing her legs.

"Not that you woke up."

A blonde waitress came to take their orders, then left again.

She smiled, showing her teeth. "The doctor told me you didn't let them turn my life support off."

He took a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. "Yeah, well, the State of Michigan felt that justice would be better served if criminals went to trial and were sentenced by a jury of their peers." He held out the pack to her.

She took one, and leaned forward to let him light it for her. "That's what the State of Michigan felt?" she asked, tilting her head to one side teasingly. "Did the State of Michigan receive any advice from Stilwater law enforcement?"

Troy looked away. "It was a hell of a position to defend," he admitted. "It was a fucking mess beginning to end."

"Well," she said, smiling faintly. "I appreciate it."

He rolled his eyes. "My pleasure."

The waitress came back with their coffee.

She tapped cigarette ash into the tray. "You having this place watched?" she asked.

He looked down at his cup, then back up at her. "There aren't many people I trust."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "I don't know if you mean that you don't trust me not to try to kill you or you don't trust your guys to keep this meeting a secret."

He laughed humourlessly. "Good."

She took a sip of her coffee.

He leaned forward. "So are we just going to dance around? What do you want, Katie? A fresh start? I can set you up with a new ID if you want to start over. Social security number. Anything."

"I – don't know," she said. "I've just been trying to figure out what's going on."

"Don't get back into that life, Katie," he said, then corrected himself. "Kate."

She reached out her hand and used a finger to drag up the sleeve of his jersey, feeling his arm tense under her fingertip. There was a large, ornate Celtic cross tattooed on his forearm.

"Still got it," she said.

He shrugged. "Getting rid of it's more trouble than it's worth."

"It's always going to be part of you."

He looked away. "Doesn't mean anything."

She tapped her fingers against her cup. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Troy. I mean, Christ, you're in a coma for five years and all your hard work's for nothing. All these new gangs just come in to take your place."

Troy sighed. "Things could be better. I heard you've already met the Ronin."

She smiled, delighted. "And how did you hear that?"

"Guess you just make an impression on people wherever you go," he said.

"Guess I do," she said." Do you ever see Dex?"

"It might surprise you to learn," he said. "That I don't really keep in touch with the guys. Not that I don't appreciate it when they drop by to say 'hi', and try and kill you."

She laughed. "What'd Johnny do, anyway?" she asked. "I've kind of been wondering."

"It's Gat," said Troy. "Fuck do you think he did? He walked into the police station with a shotgun in each hand. I've got the whole thing on security footage if you wanna see it."

"That does sound like a Johnny plan," she admitted. "Did he get very close?"

"Not really," he said. "But closer than I'd like. Obviously."

"I don't think he wants to try it again," she said. "I think he's over it, to be honest."

"Great," he said. "Next time I don't die I'll remember to be grateful."

She drained the rest of her coffee. "So what else?" she asked. "You married now? It's been a while since we've caught up."

He smiled, but there was a hard look about it. "Was," he said. "Few years back. Didn't last."

"How come?"

He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Getting a little personal here, aren't we?"

She gave him a half-smile. "Just curious. Was it because you're so fucking defensive all the time?"

He held the stare for a moment more. "Drank too much," he said, holding up a finger. "Smoked too much." Another finger. "Worked too much." A third finger. "And that's about the whole story."

She looked up at him. "Sorry to hear it didn't work out."

He shrugged. "Didn't really come as a surprise. That's life."

He looked so grim Kate thought she should change the topic. "Johnny said you'd been investigating the boat bombing," she said.

"Well," said Troy. "He's right."

"What'd you find out?"

He paused for a moment, studying her. "Nothing I can tell you about."

"Fuck's sake, Troy," she said, stabbing the butt of her cigarette out into the ashtray. "I almost died. Lost five years."

"I know," he said. "Christ. I know."

She sat back, folding her arms. "You weren't involved, were you?"

"Jesus!" he exclaimed. "No. Of course not."

"So how involved were you?" asked Kate. "In everything. Did you know the Winslow thing was going to go down?"

"Winslow," repeated Troy. "I haven't – haven't heard that name in years." He wrapped both hands around the coffee cup and looked down at it. "No. I didn't know that was going to happen. I was just – just an agent, we didn't get filled in. For a long time I just thought it was you guys trying to get revenge for Monroe taking Julius."

She sighed. "I didn't realise until way too late that was what it was meant to look like."

"Yeah, well. That makes two of us, don't it?" he said, bitterly.

"How did you get to be chief so fast, anyway?" she asked.

"They wanted someone that had experience with Stilwater's gang problems. I didn't really chase it, but I didn't decline it, either. Some days I think I should have."

"Doesn't Stilwater have a whole new gang problem now anyway?" she asked. "I mean – not trying to imply you're ineffective, but it just seems like something's gone wrong somewhere."

He grimaced. "Ultor's got our fucking balls in a vice," he said. "You know – when I took this job, I wasn't expecting all the politics that goes with it. Guess that was naïve."

"This town needs cleaning up, Troy," she said. "And it doesn't look like the cops are going to do it, no offence."

"Look," he said, leaning forward and lowering his voice. She leaned forward to hear him. "I don't want to see you end up dead. So – if you're going to do this – I'm going to give you some advice."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Get rid of anyone that intentionally fucks you over," he said. "Permanently. No second chances. Tie up your loose ends. Don't try and fight a war on three fronts at once, you won't win. Look after your guys. Don't be reckless and sacrifice things or people you don't have to. And be prepared to back off if you can't win."

"What about you?" she asked. "Do you count as someone who fucked me over? A loose end?"

"Katie," he said. "I've never done anything to hurt you. Ever."

She blinked at him for a moment. "Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe you're right."

"And don't expect special treatment from the cops," he said. "I'm not going to make that call."

"Of course not," said Kate. "But, you know – we might be able to help out from time to time. Like if you know someone's guilty but can't get a warrant to search their place. Things like that."

"You're pushing it," he said, and stood up. He paused for a moment. "It was good to see you again."

She nodded, not getting up. "Yeah," she said. "It was. I'll be seeing you around."

He hesitated, just as he was about to leave the table. "And watch out for Gat," he said.

Kate frowned. "What for?"

"You ever felt bad about killing someone?"

She ran her tongue over her teeth. "Yeah," she said, quietly.

"He hasn't."

She stared wordlessly after him as he turned and walked away.


	19. House of Cards

Kate sat in the driver's seat of her car on the boardwalk, seatbelt undone, ignoring the curious glances of the people that walked past.

She started the car as it began to ring, and reversed back onto the road.

After a good eight rings, Johnny picked up.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Okay," said Kate. "Let's do this."

"Do – what?"

"You know." Kate waved a hand as she ran a red light. "This. The Saints."

"Well I'm glad you've made up your mind," said Johnny. "Finally. Get over here and let's talk about what we're doing next."

"Do you have a plan?" asked Kate, curiously.

"Yeah. Yeah, you could say that."

"Does it involve murdering people?" she asked.

There was a pause. "Yeah," said Johnny again, thoughtfully. "Guess it does."

"Right," said Kate. "Well, give me half an hour and-"

Her words were cut off in a crunch of metal as her car hit the car in front. The phone was knocked from her hand, and she was thrown forwards into the steering wheel, her seatbelt still lying, undone, next to her. Black smoke was pouring out of the bonnet of her car, and beginning to fill the air inside.

She gasped for a second, trying to regain her breath.

The phone, lying in the driver's side footwell, was crackling tinnily at her. She picked it up, half dazed.

"Katie. Katie?" Johnny was calling for her. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," she said, prodding at her chest gently. Nothing felt broken. "Just hit a-" She sat up straighter. "Just hit a _Bezier_," she said. "Okay, let's make it – I'll see you in ten."

He laughed. "Try not to kill yourself," he said, and hung up.

She got out of the car with a grin on her face, and began to walk towards the driver's side door of the Bezier.

* * *

She arrived in Misty Lane fifteen minutes later, driving a bright blue Bezier with the back smashed in and no rear bumper. Johnny opened the door before she got to it.

"Your, uh, head's bleeding," he said, reaching up to touch her eyebrow. "Looks like it's stopping though."

She frowned. "Must have smashed it into the steering wheel," she said. "Still. Came out of that pretty well." She turned back to look at the Bezier, its paint shimmering in the sun.

"You should get that fixed up," said Johnny. "Before you blow it up. You're lucky the engine's in the back, considering how often you rear-end people."

"And never get rear-ended myself," she said. "Sadly."

"You can't complain about that, you got plenty of opportunities." He said. "Anyway, Come inside."

She followed him into the house.

"So I'm glad you finally decided to come around," he said. "Kind of shows your loyalty to the Saints."

"What Saints?" she asked, bleakly. "There's you."

"So it's just your loyalty to me that's in question?" His smile darkened. "That's just making it personal."

"Johnny – I didn't mean it like that." She leant against the back of the sofa. "I just – I was trying to figure out what I can do, you know? I don't want to start a gang war if I'm not capable of it, you know? Like I'm not going to pass out every time I hear a gunshot or some shit like that."

He shrugged. "Busy morning?" he asked. "I see you're no longer a doctor."

She looked down at herself. The snakeskin pants looked a little ridiculous, skintight, scaled, and vaguely shiny. "Ran into an old friend," she said, carefully.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Who?"

She bit her lip. She should tell him about Troy. She should really tell him.

"Luz," she said. "Remember her? From the Carnales. She's running coke downtown. We caught up."

"Oh hey." His smile lost some of its hard edge. "That was you? I think I saw some of that on TV."

"I figure if we get the Colombians onside then that sets up a potential income stream," she said. "Though apparently the – er, the voodoo gang? I forgot the name. But they have some sort of psychoactive they're pushing which is quite popular. But come on, who doesn't like coke?"

Johnny's grin widened. "And here's me thinking you spent the morning printing job applications."

"Well, shit." She smiled back. "It was always going to be this way," she said. "Come on, you knew it. You can take the girl out of the Saints but you can't take the Saints – I don't think this sentence is going to end the way I want it to."

"Way I remember it," he said. "There weren't many Saints in the girl in the first place."

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with this," she said, covering her eyes with her hands. "It's weird."

He scoffed. "I am not the weird one in this scenario. Believe me. How long's it been for you, five years? Probably longer."

Kate turned her head, seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. "Aisha!" she exclaimed, loudly. "How have you been?"

She frowned. "Since I saw you yesterday?" she asked. "Good, I guess?"

"You sick of Johnny yet?" Kate continued. "God knows he can be a pain in the ass."

Johnny shrugged lazily. "Must be why I got shanked a lot in prison."

A soft smile spread over Aisha's face. "I think it might take a bit longer until I get sick of seeing him around every day," she said. She looked over at Johnny. "He was away a long time." She paused, watching him. "But – that don't mean you don't have to take your feet off the coffee table."

He dropped them to the floor with a thud. "Fine," he said. "So we going to talk about doing this shit or what?"

Katie took a seat next to him and leaned forward. "It's just – it seems like such a huge task. Where do we even start? There's you. And me."

Johnny leaned back. "I got a couple of contacts from prison I think might be interested. Seeing as I didn't have the luxury of taking a five year nap."

She glared half-heartedly. "And what about, like, a headquarters?"

"What's wrong with this place?"

"No," Aisha said firmly. "No way in hell."

"She's kinda right," said Kate. "It's a house in a nice suburb. Your lady lives here. You remember how many times the Church got attacked by gangs last time? You don't want that shit round here."

"Yeah," said Johnny. "Yeah, okay. There's a place I'm thinking about. Old mission building."

"Cute," said Kate. "Continuing the theme. Nice."

"Yeah, it's a bit of a fixer-upper, but whatever."

"Anyone currently living in it?"

"Sons of Samedi and crazy homeless guys."

She nodded. "Sounds manageable."

"It's in a good location, too. Underground."

Kate grimaced. "Well that sounds… rat-infested."

"Nah, man, it's really cool. See, the whole city of Stilwater was destroyed in an earthquake, and instead of clearing it all out and starting over, they just built over the top of it."

"What," Kate asked, flatly. "Okay that's kind of incredibly cool, but, like, what happens if there's another earthquake? Is the top city just going to collapse into the bottom city?"

Johnny shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well-" she said. "It's just if that's potentially going to happen, and even without an earthquake it's still a little unsure whether building foundations are really going to be able to carry a building's weight considering there's a void below – then – well, what I'm trying to say is that if there's another big earthquake, or even a little earthquake, or just the stress gets too high from the buildings overhead – and we're down there, then – we're all going to die."

Johnny had taken off his sunglasses and was staring at her blankly. "I'm sorry," he said. "What? Was there some kind of point in there?"

Kate felt her cheeks turning red. "I felt my point was adequately summed up by the 'all going to die' bit."

"How do you know this shit anyway?" Johnny got up from the sofa and headed into the kitchen to grab a couple of beers.

"I, uh, did like this one engineering paper at college," she said, cheeks still burning. "Whatever. Do you want to go show me the place now?"

"Eh, why not?" he said, tossing her the beer. "One for the road."

She followed him out to the car, and noticed him hesitate as they walked towards the Bezier.

"Katie," he said, standing next to it. "The idea of _you_ driving _this_ car is not filling me with confidence."

"Do you know how carefully I drove it on the way over here?" she asked, indignantly. "I didn't hit anything. Not once."

He stared at her for another few moments. "Okay," he said. "I'm gonna trust you. This time. But only because your car is pretty damn close to exploding and you seem kind of attached to it."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said. "Fine. Whatever. Get in."

The Bezier purred as she turned the ignition key. "Just tell me where to go."

It turned out to be close to her shitty basement apartment. The church was in the middle of a block of slums, rubbish strewn over the parking lot. There was a neon light depicting a pair of praying hands on the sign outside.

She followed Johnny through the door, gun help loosely in her hand.

It didn't compare to the Saints Row Church. The wallpaper was peeling from the decaying wooden walls, and the faded carpet smelled musty and damp. But, there was still an altar at the head of the room, on a slightly raised step. It was simple and wooden, but covered in thick white candles. Behind that was a stained glass window, and just for a moment – Kate could imagine she was back at the Church.

"There something interesting about those candles?" Johnny asked, impatiently. "We got work to do."

She turned to follow him down the stairs. They led the pair down further and further, growing more and more rickety with each flight. Debris – piles of cracked masonry and rotting timber – was pushed up against the walls.

Eventually, it opened out abruptly, revealing marble-columned walls and faded wallpaper. Kate stared. It had been covered in graffiti and worn away by time, but the room they'd emerged in looked like part of a high class hotel. A window at one end of the room was hung with thick tapestry curtains, but had been bricked up.

"This is amazing," she whispered.

Johnny held up a hand. She stopped abruptly.

"Down there." His words were barely audible as his lips brushed her ear. "See them?"

She moved forward to see better, looking out from a marble balcony over what seemed to have been a large lobby area. Men and women were slouching on dirty sofas around a fire in the middle of the floor.

"Samedi?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Let's get started then," she breathed, aiming her gun, steadying it, and then pulling the trigger.

There was immediate chaos as the Samedi tried to figure out where the shots were coming from. Johnny charged down the stairs, firing indiscriminately. Kate scrambled forward, gun outstretched to cover him.

They were closing in on him too fast. She shot one through the neck; another in the eye, but she couldn't keep up. A tall man with a shaved head was moving in. Johnny lifted his shotgun to shoulder height and smashed it into his face, sending him stumbling backwards. It gave Kate long enough to reload and fire, shattering the man's skull and splattering Johnny with his blood.

He turned back to look up at her. "Do you mind?" he asked, mildly. "'Eesh only washed this yesterday."

In response, Kate carefully eliminated another gang member that had been running towards him with a crowbar.

"Pay attention," she admonished, equally calmly.

He grinned at her and began firing again.

Kate picked her way around the planks of wood that acted as some sort of catwalk from one balcony to the next, mopping up the stragglers and those too far away to have heard the first gunshots.

They made one more circuit to make sure they'd cleared the area; Kate taking the top , the balconies and loose planks and delicate, degrading second floor rooms, while Johnny took the paved streets below.

They met up back where they'd started, in the room with the sofas and the fire, still burning merrily.

"That was actually kind of fun," she said.

"There's the Katie I remember," he said. "But we're not done yet. Got the squatters to evict." He reloaded his shotgun.

"Are they really just crazy homeless people?" she asked.

"Think so." Johnny shrugged.

"Well – let me try something first."

The squatters had built shelters out of cardboard boxes, bits of plywood, anything they could get their hands on.

"Can I have your attention please?" she called out. "This area has been designated unsafe by – er – City Hall. You're all going to have to leave immediately."

There was a chorus of drunken dissent.

"I know," she said. "Look – we've been doing geotechnical tests on this land for a year. It just isn't safe. It could come down at any minute and the rescue operation is going to have a shit of a time with this place. You just need to leave. Now."

"Did Ultor put you up to this?" grumbled one of them.

"What?" she asked. "No. What?"

"We don't have anywhere else to go," said a woman quietly .

Kate looked towards Johnny, guiltily. He shrugged.

"Maybe – maybe we could just get you to move a few blocks down," Kate invented. "The, er, land is a lot more stable over there. This area is off-limits indefinitely."

There was another grumble, but a general movement of the squatters towards their shanties as they began to pick up their stuff.

Johnny turned towards her. He shook his head. "That's a weakness," he said. He almost sounded disappointed. "That's going to get you in trouble one day."

"Yeah," mumbled Kate. "I know."


	20. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

This was an unexpectedly long chapter. Thanks also to the guest reviews that I can't reply to directly! You guys are great.

* * *

"Freaks and misfits," said Kate. "That's what we are. Including myself, of course."

Johnny looked at her. "You're sounding real enthusiastic about this," he said.

"It's just – I get shooting up some Ronin as a way to prove how great I am. Stunt jumps, a little less. Towing some asshole's car because of a personal debt – shit, you can hire a fucking debt collector to do that."

Johnny sighed. "Katie – we don't have much of a choice. It's not like we got the resources to assemble a crack team of mercs or something. We've gotta work with what we've got. Plus Carlos is your boy, man, that one's on you."

She frowned. "He's so young," she said. "I feel weird about it."

"He's probably had more experience on the streets than you," said Johnny.

"What?"

"Well you didn't grow up in a gang family, far as I can tell. You were in for half a year five years ago and you're only just coming back in. You said Carlos had an older brother in the Saints, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think he's dead. Didn't want to ask."

"Well then he knows how things work. Doesn't matter how old he is."

She stared at him, unconvinced.

"I'm not saying he can handle himself better than you or anything," Johnny continued. "Though you – when you first joined the Saints – versus him now might be an interesting fight. Fuck, your canonisation was hilarious." He grinned. "You were all fuckin' elbows. Dex and I laughed about that for-" he paused, the smile sliding off his face. "For weeks," he finished.

"If you're getting nostalgic for laughing at me being a fuckup I'm going to punch you," said Kate. "Let's get the team together and work out what we're doing."

Johnny sneered at her, but got out his phone and began dialling.

An hour later, they were all gathered around the open fire in the middle of their new base. The marble stairs were crumbling, and there was a huge stone statue poised on the landing that had lost its arms.

She was uncomfortably aware of the space outside the room, extending back into the dark, silent ruins of the old city. The rooms overhead had holes in the walls and sometimes the floor, and the creaking as people walked across the floor above concerned her a little – but it was a start.

There were men and women she didn't know, who'd somehow heard about their nascent gang and decided to try their luck. She even thought she recognised a few faces, maybe prior Saints who'd missed their old ways and latched onto the gang when they heard about it – but she couldn't be sure.

They crowded around the fire, almost filling the room. Their faces were eager, questioning.

"What's happening?" Kate whispered to Johnny.

"Say something," he hissed back. "They're waiting for you to tell us what we're doing."

"What?" She stared at him. "Why me?"

"Because you're running this show, that's why."

"I don't know what to say!"

"Jesus." Johnny closed his eyes. "Tell them why they're here and what we're doing. It's not like you're holding a seminar or some shit."

"Alright," said Kate, her voice quiet in the silence. "Well, thanks – _everyone_ – for coming." She paused. "The Saints used to be a big deal in this town – some of you might remember. We systematically eliminated every other gang in town over the course of a few months. We faced long odds, and we beat them. And we can do it again."

Kate was startled as a voice from the crowd behind her yelled out "Yeah!" This triggered a cheer that rose up around her. She waited for it to die down before she spoke again.

"Okay, so - let's talk about our first moves. Pierce, I want to put you on the Ronin, 'cause you seem to have some kind of background with them. Shaundi, I'm going to give you the Samedi-"

Shaundi gave an indrawn hiss of breath. "Really?"

Kate looked up at her. "Well I don't want to give them to Carlos."

"Why not?" Carlos asked, defensively.

"I just don't, okay?" said Kate. "Samedi have got some kind of drug distribution ring going on. Keep your head down if you're nervous about investigating it. I just want you to observe at this stage, I don't want anyone rushing off to get killed."

"Fine," said Shaundi. "Alright."

Kate turned to Carlos with a smile. "And that gives you the Brotherhood. Think you can handle it?"

"No problem," he said, his face solemn.

"What about Johnny?" asked Shaundi.

"He's-" Kate tapped her fingers together, trying to find the right word. "Resource. Trust me, it'll work better this way than having him focus on just one target."

There was a low hum of conversation around the room.

"And come to me if you have any problems," she added. "We'll sort them out."

They seemed to take it as their cue to disperse.

"Great speech," said Johnny. "You sounded like a little league coach. Real inspirational."

She glared. "Well next time, fucking warn me if I'm going to have to say something. I'm not Julius, okay, I can't pull inspiring speeches out of my ass on command."

Johnny snorted. "I don't think Julius could, either. Remember what Benjamin King said that one time? About Julius stealing his lines?"

Kate frowned. "Yeah, actually. Yeah. I'd forgotten."

"I've been thinking about what you said about Julius being some kind of janitor for Ultor," Johnny said.

"Custodian," Kate corrected.

"Same thing. Point is, something here ain't right."

"Why?" she asked. "Maybe he just wanted to fix his life up."

"Quick change of heart, don't you think?" Johnny said. "One minute he's all 'we run this fuckin' city' and then he gets picked up by the cops and the next minute he's working for those assholes who destroyed the Row."

"I really want to know what was happening in those last few weeks," said Kate, frowning. "Things got insane and then suddenly it's all over. Well, for me."

"Actually it was kind of like that for all of us," said Johnny. "Well, those that didn't drop their flags at the first sign of trouble."

"There was no succession plan," said Kate. "Well, there was, but it didn't really go far enough. That's why things fell apart."

"No what?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, who gets to be the leader if you lose your current leader, and everybody knows about it. You need, like, a proper plan instead of the last three assholes standing trying to figure out what's going on. Right now, if I die, it's going to you."

"Well, shit," he said. "Guess I have to make sure you don't die, then."

She grinned. "Well I'd appreciate it."

Johnny looked over her shoulder. "Looks like your boy wants to talk to you," he said. "I'll see you later. Call if you need anything. You know how it is."

She turned to see Carlos standing behind her, watching her with his large dark eyes.

"Hey," she said. "You need something?"

He looked at her, hesitantly, for a moment before answering. "Boss-" he began.

"Call me Kate," she said.

He took a deep breath, waiting until Johnny was out of earshot. "K-Kate," he said. "Can you- what am I supposed to be doing?"

"Oh!" her eyes widened. "Yeah. Sure. Okay, so. Three gangs in this city, as you'll know," she said "They're all going to have different areas of, you know, activities. Girls, drugs, cars, arms smuggling, money laundering, front companies, you know, that kind of shit. What I want you to do is do a little investigating. Find out what they're into, see what their game is. Suggest some ways of taking them down a notch or two. Find a way past their defences. See what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," said Carlos. "Think so."

She smiled. "Carlito," she said. "I don't expect you to just go to some neighbourhood and shoot everyone wearing red. Yeah, there's going to be trouble, but – I don't want you to put yourself in a position where you're going to get yourself killed, okay? Be careful. That's my number one rule."

He smiled back. "Okay. Kate." He paused. "Katie?"

"Oh, Carlito," she said. "Not yet. Maybe one day."

He looked away, with a grin. "Kate. I won't let you down."

* * *

True to his word, he was the first to call her after the meeting had ended and the new Saints dispersed.

"I got something for you," he said, proudly. "Maero wants to meet you. Down in the tunnels by the docks."

Kate froze where she was, phone held up to her ear. "Did you just go see him?" she asked, incredulously. "Ask him if he'd talk to me?"

"Yeah," he said, proudly. "That's right."

"Jesus fucking Christ," she said. "Well – shit. Alright."

Carlos met her at the entrance to the tunnels, a huge old building that now housed a gift shop. The words "Phantom Caves" were spelt out in gold above the entrance to the building. She could hear the waves crashing against the wharf, ships' horns sounding over the water.

"The fuck are we going?" she asked, following him into the building.

"It's a tourist attraction," he said.

She pushed her way past a group of old women gathered around a cheap sunglasses stand. "If it's so touristy, why are we meeting this guy here?" she asked. "You'd think he'd pick somewhere more isolated."

"Maybe he picked it because of that," said Carlos. "So you'd be less likely to start something."

Kate hesitated, turning towards him. "Yeah," she said. "That's not a bad theory."

They made their way down the metal steps and into the caverns themselves. Huge stalactites, worn smooth by years of water running over their surface, hung down from the cave roof overhead. Water poured down through holes in the rock.

It was still crowded, even once they'd dropped down a couple of levels. The air around them was damp, the chill of the rock encasing them sinking into their skin.

'How much further?" she asked, quietly, as they descended yet another flight of stairs.

"I, ah, don't know," said Carlos. "I'm not much of a tourist, you know? Haven't spent a lot of time down here."

Kate closed her eyes. "Alright," she said. "So we just walk around until – what, we-"

Carlos put a hand out to stop her.

Leaning against the stone wall up ahead was the biggest man she'd ever seen. His hair was a vibrant red, and his face was half-covered in a black and red tribal tattoo. He seemed to be alone. He stood up when he saw the two of them. Kate grimaced as she saw how big he was.

"Maero, I assume," said Kate, offering her hand to shake. Maero gripped it in a painfully tight squeeze. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

"And you've spoken to Carlos already, I take it," she continued, flexing her hand.

Maero shrugged. "This your crew these days?" he said, his voice a low rumble.

There was an insult in his tone, but she didn't take the bait. "Well, we had to filter out the police officers," she said, with a faint smile. She could feel Carlos' tension by her side.

Maero laughed. "I remember you. What you were. What you achieved. I think we could-"

"This way!"

There was a call from further up the trail. They all turned towards the sound of the voice.

"Police! Freeze!"

Kate reached for her gun, but Maero was already firing. She dashed after him, swearing under her breath. She paused behind a large stalagmite, then leaned out carefully and squeezed off two shots before ducking back into cover.

She heard Maero laugh. "Nice work," he said, before running off ahead.

Kate followed, but was panting by the time she'd climbed the third flight of stairs to the exit. Carlos was almost a flight ahead, but stopped when he noticed her leaning heavily on the rail for support.

"You okay, boss?" he said.

She gulped down air, willing her heart to stop pounding so hard. "The fuck did the police find us?" she gasped out. "We weren't followed. We weren't fucking followed."

"Anyone know you were coming?" asked Carlos.

She frowned, thinking about Troy. "No," she said, and then "no," again, more certainly.

"You think he called them?"

Her frown deepened. "That doesn't really make sense either," she said. "Fuck it. We need to catch up to him."

By the time they reached him again, Maero was in the gift shop, pinned down behind a rack of tshirts and stalagmite hats. Kate took a half-step out of cover and fired off her full clip, covering Carlos, who ran out behind her shooting, taking out the remaining officers.

"Not bad," said Maero. "For someone who's been in a coma. Follow me, we'll head back to our HQ."

They ran out the door.

The Brotherhood's hideout was at the docks – and wasn't much of a hideout to start with. Gang members wearing red were scattered around outside the warehouse, smoking, talking, leaning on their cars.

Kate smiled tightly but blankly at them as they passed, focusing on escape routes, who was packing, what she'd have to do if things turned bad-

"Donnie," said Maero, startling Kate out of her concentration. "You done with my truck yet?"

Kate's eyes widened as she looked down at the mechanic. Donnie caught her wide-eyed stare, and turned to look at her. He froze. He looked older – there were wrinkles around his eyes and his face was thinner, and his hair had a red tint instead of blue, but it was unmistakeable.

Maero frowned. "You two know each other?"

Kate hadn't seen Donnie since that last glimpse of him before the lid of the car trunk closed. "We've – met," she managed.

Donnie was still staring at her, his eyes wide and full of horror.

She could remember the sound of the waves slapping against the car as it slowly sank. Maybe he could too.

"It's – it's good to see you," she said. "Alive. I guess."

"Y-yeah," he stammered. "You too."

"Well wasn't that heartwarming," said Maero. "Come inside."

There was a skinny blond guy in the corner, strumming on a guitar. A red-headed girl greeted Maero with a kiss, then turned to the visitors.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Jessica."

The situation felt – disarmingly friendly. Like meeting an acquaintance's girlfriend. "Kate," she said in response. "Nice to meet you. This is Carlos."

Jessica's eyes slid to Carlos for a fraction of a second, then back to Kate. "You look familiar," she said.

Maero laughed. "That might be because she's been in the news lately."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "No," she said. "From – I don't know. Did you go to Stilwater University?"

"Not at any time in the past five years," said Kate.

"Huh," said Jessica. "I'll figure it out."

"If you two have finished getting acquainted," said Maero.

Jessica smiled brightly. "Sure," she said, and sat down in the corner.

"So," said Maero. "It makes sense to work together. I was thinking an 80/20 split, seeing as you're just getting started and we're going to be pulling most of the weight."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "That's a little lower than I was really looking for."

"As a show of goodwill," he said. "I'm willing to go up to 70/30. Seeing as you showed you can handle yourself."

Kate cast a glance back at Carlos. "Yeah," she said, slowly. "I feel like we might be better off going it alone."

Maero snorted. "Your choice," he said. "Good luck."

"Oh, it's not luck," said Kate, turning towards the door. Her tone was clipped. "I'm sure we'll be meeting again. But in the meantime-" she paused. "It might pay for you to understand that there is nothing you can possess that I cannot take away."

She walked out the door, Carlos close behind.

"Donnie," she said, loud enough for Maero to hear. "Come with me. Now."

Donnie looked up at her, alarmed. "What? No!"

She fixed him with an unsmiling stare. "I want to talk to you about Lin."

"L-lin?" he asked, quietly, almost breathlessly.

"That's right," she said. "This is a one-time offer. Come with me, now, or never find out what she wanted you to know."

Donnie stood up, shakily. "Okay," he said.

Kate smiled. "Bring your car," she said, cheerfully. "And follow us. We'll talk once we're back home."

Donnie left his tools where they were and stood up.


	21. Hole in the Earth

I really wanted to name this one after the song 'dead friends' but I feel like I might need that one later! Still found something (semi-)appropriate.

* * *

Kate sighed as she began to drive, glancing in the rear view mirror to check if Donnie was still following her.

"You know this guy?" asked Carlos.

"Yeah," said Kate. "While ago. He used to be in the Rollerz. We had a girl go in undercover, and – things went bad."

Carlos frowned. "If things went bad, why is he coming with us?"

"Well – partly because he might be able to help us with Maero," she said.

Carlos waited a moment, until it became evident she wasn't going to keep talking. "And what's the second part?"

She shifted uncomfortably in the seat. "I just feel bad for him," she said, defensively. "He's just – just kind of a weenie. I sound like I'm 10 years old but seriously, weenie is the only word that really describes him."

"So – you're adopting him?"

"No." She turned to glare at Carlos, but he was smiling at her cheekily and she couldn't hold the expression. "Well, okay, sort of. Christ. Now I sound like the weenie."

He laughed.

"Can you call Johnny?" she asked, wriggling her hand into her pocket and throwing her phone into his lap. "Put it on speaker."

The tinny ringtone rang once, twice, before Johnny picked up.

"Hey," he said. "How'd it go?"

"Not that well," she said. "Guy made a lowball offer – politely – but then I stole his mechanic."

"You – what?"

Kate rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "It – well, do you remember Donnie?"

"Who?"

"That guy from the Rollerz Lin was dating."

"Not really," he said. "He important?"

She sighed. "No."

"Then why the fuck are you bothering doing anything with him?" he asked, impatiently.

Kate hesitated for a second. "I kind of did it to piss off Maero," she said.

"Oh," he said. "Well, that's different. So, what does he do?"

"I don't know," she said. "Car shit. I guess we do cars now, I don't know."

"You gonna be driving any of these cars?" he asked. "Because if so, I'm out."

"Shut up," she said. "Anyway Donnie'll be coming back later, so don't like, shoot him or something. He's kind of half-assedly flying Brotherhood flags."

"Fine," said Johnny. "But he's going to have to be canonised."

"Christ. I'd forgotten about that. We'll see. Anyway, talk to you later."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, and hung up.

They pulled into the carpark behind the back of the Saints headquarters.

"Right," she said to Carlos. "I'm going to be taking Donnie on a trip, so, you know, don't wait up."

He frowned. "Are you going to be okay with him?" he asked. "On your own?"

She laughed. "With Donnie? Uh, yeah. I'll be fine."

"What are you going to do with him?" Carlos asked, cracking the car door open but not making any move to get out.

"Just take him on a trip," she said, watching as Donnie's car came to a stop behind them. "See you later."

She stepped out of the car and slowly walked over to Donnie's.

Donnie was sitting in the driver's seat, hands clenched in his lap and staring straight ahead. When Kate tapped on the window he jumped.

"You alright?" asked Kate.

"Y-yeah," he said. "I can't believe I just did that."

"Left the Brotherhood?" she asked. "Yeah, don't think Maero's going to be too happy. Oh well."

"Do you think he'll come after me?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Well you know him better than me," she said. She walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door.

Donnie looked over at her as she settled into the passenger seat. "What did you want to tell me about her?"

She sighed. "Did you ever come to the old church, Donnie?"

He shook his head.

Kate shrugged. "Guess you wouldn't have a reason to." She stared at the dashboard in front of her.  
"That's where we buried her. There wasn't much space left. We thought about just digging up someone else's grave but then she wouldn't have had a real headstone - it just got complicated." She shook her head, slowly.

Donnie was looking at her with wide eyes.

"So," she continued. "We got one made and buried her right at the edge of the grounds." She paused. "But - they moved the church."

"Ultor moved all the grave plots there to the cemetery," said Donnie quietly.

"Did they?" She was still looking at the dashboard. There was a cigarette burn on the plastic surface.

"Yeah."

She managed to tear her eyes away. "Guess we should go pay our respects, then."

Donnie's hands were clenched around the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white. "Are you going to kill me?"

"What?" Kate asked. "No. Unless you pull a gun on me or something."

"Okay," he said, and started the engine. "I miss her. You know."

She watched out the window as the streets slid smoothly past. "Yeah. I know."

"I didn't mean for things – to end up like that."

She snorted. "I could tell. You looked pretty upset in the few seconds between when the old guy opened the trunk and when he shot us both."

His hands gripped the wheel even tighter, and he didn't reply.

They drove through the cemetery gates and pulled into the parking area.

"Any idea where the graves will be?" she asked, getting out of the car.

He shook his head.

"Guess we have to search for them then."

She made her way to the nearest and bent to read the inscription.

_Kenneth Schwarz, 1955-2003._

"That doesn't seem right," she said. "If the graves were moved all together they'd be in one place, right? And the church was older than this guy."

"I don't know," Donnie said quietly. "What does the headstone look like?"

"Says 'Lin' on it," she said, walking past rows of headstones. "Eighty – _shit_. Eighty-something to two-thousand-eight. And we put a fleur-de-lis on it. And a picture of her car. Christ, that sounds so crappy."

"She loved her car," said Donnie.

"Yeah," said Kate, bending to read another headstone.

_Timothy McCarthy, 1895-1926._

"This is more like it," she said, following along the row. "Phillip Alexander, Lorcan Murphy, Nathaniel Albright-"

"Here," said Donny. He was standing in front of a headstone, looking down at it.

She walked over to him. "Yeah," she said. "Hey, Lin. It's been a while."

"I'm sorry," said Donnie, quietly. "I could have done something." He looked up at Kate. "I could have-"

She shook her head. "You could have," she said. "But you didn't. And I don't blame you for it. We could hear you through the trunk of the car, you didn't know what was going to happen. And even if you had – who knows what would have happened. Probably wouldn't have gone well for you."

"I could have joined the Saints," he said.

"Maybe," she said. "Things were different then. Might not have worked out. The old guy might have put you down himself and then told your steroid freak friend with the sunglasses that you'd betrayed all of the Rollerz."

Donnie was silent.

"And I got out of the trunk pretty soon after that. First thing I did was call for help, and then the police dive squad got sent out and –" She paused. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Troy sent me the fucking police. Jesus." She put a hand on her hip. "You ever realise something from ages ago and then think, 'how could I have been so stupid'?"

"Yes," Donnie said, abruptly.

She cast a sideways glance at him. "Yeah," she said. "Okay. Anyway. We got help not long after you left. Might not have even made much of a difference."

"But he _shot_ you. I could have stopped-"

"It all happened pretty fast," she said. "I'm not trying to absolve you of guilt, or anything. But – I recognise the whole thing wasn't easy on you. You weren't really involved. And I took care of the old guy. Revenge is done, as far as I'm concerned."

"What'd you do to him?" he asked.

"All-out attack on the mansion to flush him out, and then a bullet in the head from a block and a half away," she said, proudly. "He didn't even hear it coming. Guy was an asshole. Especially to you, Christ."

He was silent for a moment. "How do you know so much about all this?" he asked.

"We did a _lot_ of eavesdropping," she said. "Outside that big window in the lounge. For someone who's meant to be prepared for anything, old guy sure didn't give a shit about security. We were like right fucking there. There was like, me, and I think Johnny was there sometimes, and I usually had a couple of guys with me, so it's not like we were really there on the down-low."

Donnie crouched down next to the grave and traced his finger over Lin's name gently. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?" he asked.

Kate closed her eyes. "It was – we were in the trunk of the car," she said. "Just been shot. Lin was – was trying to get me to reach her lighter so we could burn the ropes enough to break them. And she said – that I shouldn't hurt you. That you were sweet."

She opened her eyes to see Donnie's eyes brimming with tears. She quickly looked away. "She liked you, Donnie. I think – if things had been different – you guys might have worked out."

The tears were streaming down Donnie's face.

"Jesus," she said. "Let's go. You can come back here whenever."

Donnie wasn't in any state to drive, so she pushed him gently into the passenger's seat and took the driver's. She stared at her hands as they held the wheel. She had a sudden flicker of familiarity. She'd been driving, and Troy had been sitting in the passenger seat –

"Do you smoke, Donnie?" she asked.

"No," he sniffled.

She turned to him. "Is this _Lin's car_?" she asked. "You've painted it red and stuck that Latin to the side, but is this Lin's actual car?"

He took a couple of deep breaths. "Yeah," he said. "Couldn't just leave it in the ocean. She wouldn't have wanted that."

"So you hauled it out and painted it another gang's colours. You think she'd like that any better? She died in this car! That's fucked up. You're lucky she isn't haunting you or something."

"Who says she isn't?" Donnie asked.

Kate didn't have a reply.


	22. Working for the Weekend

This one took ages to write for some reason. Thanks again for all your reviews!

* * *

Kate was heading into the headquarters as Carlos was leaving. He had his head down, hands in his pockets as he walked.

"Carlito," said Kate.

He looked up.

"This is really annoying but I need a whole bunch of stuff done and I'm too busy to do it myself." She leaned against the wall next to him. "Now, you're one of my lieutenants so I shouldn't give you this kind of basic stuff, but I need someone with connections and I feel like you're a good bet. Feel free to delegate if you need to."

He nodded. "Anything you want."

"Okay, so," she continued. "We need a doctor who doesn't mind fishing out bullets and not asking questions. You're probably going to have to go with someone deregistered, so try and go with someone who got busted for sleeping with a patient rather than malpractice, know what I mean? We're going to need a friendly accountant, because tax evasion is how Al Capone went down and I want that shit covered. I need you to make friends with Donnie because I want to get everything he knows on the Brotherhood out of him. I think I'm going to need helicopter flying lessons so I want to get them teed up, and I need someone who does really high-quality fake IDs." She paused. "And also, could you get me a copy of Benjamin King's autobiography? I feel like I'm going to need to learn a lot of things fast."

"Uh, I think I got all that," he said. "What do you want me to do with Donnie?"

"I don't know. Go drink with him or something. But don't talk about Lin, even if he brings her up. Change the subject. Talk about cars or something. You know about cars?"

He shrugged a shoulder languidly. "Stealing them count?"

"Yeah, probably. Look-" She ran a hand through her hair. "Based on him being a huge weenie I think he grew up rich – just a guess – but I wanted to warn you in case he's just really irritating or something."

Carlos laughed. "I think I can handle that."

"You're amazing," said Kate. "Let me know how all that goes."

Carlos headed out the door as Kate began to descend the stairs.

"Oh, hey, I got something for ya," Pierce called out as she walked past a room in the crumbling underground hotel.

"Talk me through it," she said, leaning against the doorway.

"Nah, man, I made a model, you're going to need to come see it."

Kate smiled faintly. "Are you actually serious?"

"Yeah!" he said. "It's downstairs. Come on."

Pierce had built a full scale replica of the Poseidon casino in one of the rooms on the bottom level.

"Holy shit," said Kate, looking over the model.

Johnny entered the room behind her. "So what's this about?" he asked.

"Okay." Pierce leaned over the table. "Just listen, I got this all planned out. First thing –" he leaned over the display to drop two plastic figures at the front door. "You and me gotta distract the guard, who's gonna be here. I thought you could catch me cheating or something. While they're throwing me out, Johnny sneaks past this security door – got the password here – and -"

Kate tapped her fingers against the model carefully. "I don't know if we need two of us for that. Why don't you just show up drunk and once we're inside make a big a scene as possible? Seems like that would work just as well."

"O-okay," said Pierce, taken aback. "Okay. So, while they're distracted, Johnny cuts the power." He moved the figure representing Johnny over to the right side of the model floor. "After that we have 45 seconds before the backup-"

"Are you fuckin' serious?" asked Johnny. "I'm exhausted even listening to you. How about this: we show up at the front door, kill everyone, then take the money."

"Sounds like it'd take less time," said Kate, slowly. "But – I kind of want to see where this plan is going. It sounds fun."

Johnny rolled his eyes.

"So!" continued Pierce, enthusiastically. "The power's cut, all doors are unlocked, we run into the vault and take everything, then get the fuck out of there."

Kate frowned. "Are we going to be able to see?"

Pierce paused, his excitement fading. "Do we have any night-vision goggles?"

"Fuck do you think?" Kate sighed. "We can't afford that shit. What about torches? Could probably spring for that."

"They'll make us great fucking targets in the dark," said Johnny.

"Wait," said Pierce. "I got this. What's the first thing everyone does in the dark when they can't see? They pull out their phones. Everyone'll be doing it."

"So we're going to be robbing a casino by phone-light," said Johnny. "Real fucking high tech. Why don't we just take some fucking candles with us?"

"Nah, let's try it," said Kate. "I feel like taking a chance on this. Besides, if things go wrong, we're still shooting our way out."

Johnny shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Okay," said Kate. "And no purple. We are strictly anonymous."

"What?" asked Johnny. "Then how are they going to know it's us?"

"They don't," said Kate. "That's the point. It's just kind of a test exercise. Get them on guard but don't give them a target to hit back at. See what they do. Know what I'm saying?"

"The hell does that accomplish?" asked Johnny.

"Gets us some cash," said Kate. "Makes them mad. No repercussions for us. See what I'm saying?"

Johnny waved a hand dismissively. "Okay," he said. "Fine. Whatever."

They parked a block down from the casino.

"Are everyone's watches synchronised?" asked Pierce, from the back seat.

"Jesus Christ," said Kate.

"This is fucking ridiculous," said Johnny.

"Let's just go with it," said Kate. "So, how are you meant to cut the power?"

"There's should be a panel just inside the security entrance," said Pierce. "Just fuck that shit up. Cut everything."

"Yeah, I can do that," said Johnny.

"Okay, so like, give us twenty minutes," said Kate. "We'll get a couple of drinks. See if we get any attention. I'll head towards the back after about fifteen minutes, Pierce is going to make a scene, and when you cut the power I'll start the timer, run in, grab as much cash as we can, and head out the security door again. How's that sound?"

"Complicated," said Johnny. "But it's fine. See you in twenty or so."

Pierce and Kate got out of the car, and watched Johnny drive around the corner.

"Okay," said Pierce. "You codename is bl-"

"No way," said Kate. "Seriously, no."

"Why?" Pierce looked hurt.

"Because," said Kate. "Johnny's right, you are actually making this way too complicated. Now, come on, let's get some drinks."

The foyer of Poseidon's Palace was dominated by a huge sculpture of tangled blue and yellow fluorescent lights, with a waterfall pouring down from the ceiling above. As Kate looked up at it, she could see fish swimming in the glass ceiling overhead.

There were banks of poker and blackjack machines in the middle of the floor, and dealers standing by card and roulette tables. The room was decorated with tentacles dotted with lightbulbs.

She took a quick glance around. No one seemed to be wearing yellow.

"Where's the bar?" she asked Pierce.

"Think it's out back," he said.

"Shit," she said. "Really? I don't want to get too far away. Okay, let's grab a couple and head back in."

They headed up the stairs, and then outside onto a wooden walkway, burning torches lining it on either side. There was a pool below them, with a covered platform hanging over the edge, where girls in black were serving drinks.

"Come on," she said. "I haven't had a drink for like five years or something." She started down the stairs. Pierce followed her, his eyes fixed on his watch.

Kate ordered one cocktail, and then another. "You've gotta be drinking too," she hissed at Pierce. "It's part of your – thing. Backstory."

"Are you drunk already?" he asked. "Seriously?"

"I told you already," she snapped. "They don't give you drinks when you're in a coma. So I've been sober – wait, I had some coke the other day. Have you met Luz? I like her."

He stared at her. "What? No. And I'm thinking you might have to be the drunk one now."

"No!" she said, firmly. "It's your plan. We can't change it."

"We already-" he began.

"Also I hate making a scene," she moaned. "I don't like everyone looking at me."

"They're looking at you _now_," he said. "Okay, we're going back inside. You're going to sit quietly at a slot machine until Johnny gets here."

He shepherded her back inside and settled her in front of a machine near the vault at the back of the room. She pulled the arm dutifully.

"No," said Pierce. "You've gotta put _money _in it – look, never mind. Just sit here, show's about to start. Just have your phone ready."

He walked off. She heard him start swearing at one of the machines, and then a loud bang as he punched it. "The fuck are you looking at?" he yelled at a dealer.

The guards on the door took a look at each other, then began to walk towards him. She smiled.

"I am not leaving!" he yelled. "This machine is fuckin' rigged."

The room went suddenly, completely black. There were a chorus of screams from around the floor.

"Can we have calm, please?" called out a voice. "We'll have power back shortly."

Pierce grabbed her arm. "Come on," he hissed. "We don't have much time."

He pulled her along and held the vault door open for her and Johnny to walk through. "You go left," he said to Kate, handing her a bag. "And you go right. Grab as much cash as you can."

Kate stumbled into the room, holding her phone in front of her. There was a safe set into the wall, but it must have been electronically locked, because it was hanging open. She unzipped the bag, dropped it on the floor, and started shoving cash into it with her free hand.

"And, time!" Pierce hissed. "Come on, we're heading out the side door."

Kate grabbed the bag and ran after him, dodging around tables and customers and dealers. When Pierce pushed the door open she threw a hand up to her face to shield her eyes from the blinding light. There was a car waiting for the three of them, and she dived in through the open door. The tyres squealed as it sped off into the traffic.

"Holy shit," said Pierce. "We did it."

Johnny shook his head. "Guess we did. Still way too fucking complicated."

"Where are we taking this?" asked the driver. It was one of their new recruits.

"Let's take it to my place," said Johnny. "It's close by. And It'll be safe there until we can clean it up a little."

"Your lady's gonna be pissed," said Kate. "Still-" she glanced back behind her. "Doesn't look like we were followed. Probably going to be okay."

Police cars, sirens on and lights flashing, sped past them in the opposite direction. Kate laughed, a little incredulously. "We actually did it."

"Course we did." Pierce sat back in his seat, lowering sunglasses over his eyes.

Just as they pulled into Johnny's driveway, Kate's phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID and her eyes widened. She was out of the car almost before it had come to a halt.

"Just gotta take this," she called back, as she walked quickly down the street.

Once she was out of earshot, she took the call. "Hey," she said, uneasily.

"Hey," said Troy, his tone hard. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with all the commotion down by the waterfront, would you?"

"Why would you think that?" she asked, a little breathlessly. "Officer?"

There was a slight pause. "I'm not an officer."

"Oh," she said. "Chief?"

He sighed. "Well – we have this great shot of Gat coming in through the employee-only security door on surveillance footage," he said. "While you and some other guy are out by the pool. And I asked myself – could this really be a coincidence?"

She winced. "Shit."

"_Shit_ is right, because that's what you're gonna be in if Ultor – hold on." She heard muffled voices in the background. "Yeah, Jane, I'll be with you in a second," she heard him say. "Thanks." The next time he spoke, his voice was lower. "Katie, we got to the security tapes first this time, but that was luck. Next time we might not. Cover your fuckin' tracks better if you're messing with Ultor."

The phone went dead in her hand. Up the road, Pierce was waving from Johnny's doorway. "Come watch the news!" he yelled. She hurried up the road toward him.

Kate blinked at the TV screen. Jane Valderamma was standing just outside the casino they'd just robbed.

"At this stage, police appear to have no leads," she said.

The camera panned to Troy. Kate couldn't hold back a quiet gasp.

"It's early days yet, Jane," he said. "I'll be handling this one myself."

"Is that because of the interest from Ultor in this case?" asked Jane.

"Sure," Troy replied.

"One more question, please – there have been suggestions this was gang-related. Could you comment on that?"

"There's nothing at this stage to indicate that might be the case," he said. "Thanks, Jane."

"That was Troy Bradshaw, Chief of Police. And now, back to the studio."

"Holy shit," said Pierce. "We actually did it."

"Yeah," she said. "Guess we did."


	23. Cheer It On

Um I didn't know that Saints Row 4 was coming out in like a month!? I wasn't going to get it because I didn't like the third so much, but omg, Johnny is back, may have to. Even with aliens and super powers and all that ugh.

This one is pretty short.

* * *

"Hey, Kate, got you a present."

Kate looked up from the book she was reading. She was lying on a couch next to the fire in the Saints headquarters. Shaundi was walking down the stairs gracefully. She tapped a lightbulb gently against the marble handrail, shattering it.

Kate raised an eyebrow . "Is my present getting blinded by a sharp object?" she asked. "Because I can kind of do without that, not to sound ungrateful."

Shaundi laughed. "No! This is Loa dust. It's the Sons of Samedi's primary income source." She held a lighter to the broken bulb and lowered it to Kate's face.

Kate shrugged, leaned over, and inhaled gently, closing her eyes. "Mm," she said, smiling. "Buzzy." She stretched languorously out on the couch. "So what's the plan?"

"We pick up a whole lot more of it." Shaundi sat down at the end of the couch by her feet. "Their biggest market is university students, so I was thinking we could head over, grab - say, three pounds, and try to work out what's in it so we can make it ourselves."

"Do we really need that much for testing?" asked Kate, lifting her feet to rest them on Shaundi's legs. "That seems quite a lot."

"It's an intensely scientific and mystical process," said Shaundi. "I need to commune with it. This may take a long time and maybe also a lot of it."

Kate laughed. "Sure thing," she said. "Whatever. I'll send a couple of our guys around to go liberate some."

She sent a quick text message, and then gestured for Shaundi to bring her the lightbulb. Instead of getting up, Shaundi climbed over her, sliding a knee into the couch cushions by Kate's hip, the other leg resting between Kate's thighs. Shaundi lowered herself down to hold the lightbulb and a lighter under Kate's face. She breathed in the fumes, eyes half-closed.

"Don't mind me," said Johnny, walking down the stairs. "You can keep going. Just pretend I'm not even here."

"Johnny!" Kate called out, happily. "Do you want some drugs?"

"When have I ever said no to that question?" Johnny asked.

"You know, there's room on the couch for one more," said Shaundi, throatily.

"I don't know if you girls can handle that," he said with a grin, walking towards them.

Shaundi pushed herself up to her knees, still straddling Kate, and lifted the lightbulb up to him.

He breathed in deeply. "What's in this shit?" he asked.

"Nobody knows," said Kate, in a mock-spooky voice.

"We're working on that," said Shaundi.

"Yeah, looks like you're working hard," he said.

"What are you down here for anyway?" asked Kate. "Just hanging out?"

"Well no," he said. "See, I've got a quarter mill sitting on my coffee table and nothing to do with it."

"Ooh," said Shaundi. "Let's buy shoes! Or, or – more drugs."

"Oh my god." Kate sat up, knocking Shaundi backwards. "Oh my fucking god. I know this one girl that sells both."

"There is no way we're spending all of that money on shoes for you two," said Johnny, folding his arms. "This money is for laundering, not spending."

"No no no no no," said Kate. "We buy her coke, the money goes back to Colombia, we get in good with the Colombians, and end up with a whole lot of product to re-sell, and we get paid in low-denomination bills."

"Goddamn," said Johnny. "That might just work."

"Oh," said Shaundi. "No shoes?"

"Maybe _some_ shoes," Kate said. "I'll ring her." She wriggled her phone out of her pocket and dialled.

"Hello?" Luz sounded bored.

"I want to buy a whole lot of coke," said Kate.

There was a pause. "Is your phone being tapped right now?" asked Luz.

"I don't know?" said Kate. "Police have better things to do than listen to this, though."

She sighed, pointedly. "Fine. What kind of money are we talking?"

"Two-fifty K?"

Another pause. "Okay," said Luz, finally. "I can set something up. Come to my shop after work." She hung up without saying goodbye.

"There," said Kate. "Problem solved. You're welcome." She picked her book back up off the floor.

"You're cocky when you're high," said Johnny, sitting down on the arm of the couch.

"You're cocky literally all of the time," Kate said, without looking up.

"There's a very good reason for that," he said, with a grin. "You see, I-"

"Stop it!" said Kate, mock-seriously, looking up at his face above her. "If this is gonna be a dick joke, I don't want to hear it."

She could see his eyes widen behind his glasses. "But – what?"

"I am so sick of you always talking about your dick," said Kate.

"What?" asked Johnny. "I do not."

"No, seriously," said Kate. "Literally the first thing you ever said to me was about how you have this massive dick."

"Really?" asked Johnny, grinning. "I mean, it's true. Don't remember saying it though."

Kate laughed. "Yes! I just remember thinking to myself at the time, _what in the hell have I gotten myself into_?"

He turned to Shaundi, who was sitting on Kate's feet at the other end of the couch. "Come on. Really?"

"You kinda do," she said. "You know, you keep talking about it all the time – girl's gonna get curious." She raised an eyebrow playfully.

Kate snorted with laughter. "She's right," she said. "Time to put up or shut up."

"Aggressive," said Johnny. "I like it."

"Hey," said Kate. "Hey hey hey. I'm in this book."

"You can _not_ handle your drugs," said Johnny.

"No, you're in it too!" she said.

"Am I in it?" asked Shaundi.

"No," said Kate, sombrely. "I'm sorry."

"The fuck?" Johnny pulled the book out of her hands. "Oh, yeah. Regicide. Course you'd be in this."

"Oh, the Benjamin King autobiography?" asked Shaundi. "What'd he say about you?"

"That when it comes down to it I got my shit together," she replied. "But I'm kind of flaky. And that Johnny's a psychopath but other than that a pretty cool guy, which is true. King's a tough motherfucker, though. He used to – to know Julius."

"What's the deal with this Julius guy, anyway?" Shaundi asked. "It's like some big mystery and no one wants to talk about it. And by no one I pretty much just mean you two."

Kate looked up at Johnny. "Well-" she began, with a frown. "We don't – we never really worked out what happened with him."

"He used to be the boss," said Johnny. "He gets kidnapped or some shit by the cops, a lot of shit goes down, and then no one hears from him ever again."

"Except apparently he's still around and trying to distance himself from his gang past and working for Ultor," added Kate. "We don't _know _what the deal is, Shaundi."

"Maybe we should pay him a visit sometime," suggested Johnny.

"If we can ever figure out where he is or what he does," said Kate, glumly. "I don't like our odds in a city this size."

"Someone's gotta know something," said Johnny.

"Guess so." Kate shrugged. "I'll ask around. Probably can't really walk straight into Ultor reception and ask to talk to him."

"You might be more convincing if you asked to talk to him while holding a gun," said Johnny. "I think that's where you're going wrong."

"Your plans are really direct," said Kate. "And sometimes I like that."

"But not always," he said.

"Management styles," she said, seriously. "That's why I'm reading this book, anyway." She made a grab for it, but he lifted it just out of her reach.

"Ugh. Whatever." She sat up a little. "Hey Shaundi, got any more Loa Dust?"

"Sure do," said Shaundi, brandishing the lightbulb.

"Testing drugs is fun," said Kate, as she leaned in towards her.


	24. I Got It (What You Need)

Kate's phone was ringing. She pulled over to the side of the road, and picked it up off the passenger seat where she'd thrown it. She checked the caller ID, and smiled. "Carlito," she said. "What have you got for me?"

"You don't say that right," he said. "You know."

"What?" she asked. "How do I not say it right?"

"You – put too much on the 'C' at the beginning. And you kinda skim over the 'r'. And your 'o' at the end is too – American."

"Well – how am I meant to say, it, then?" She frowned.

"Like – _Carlito._"

"Carlito," she tried again.

"Closer," he said. "_Carlito_."

"Carlito."

"_Carlito_."

"Carlito?"

"Almost. _Carlito_."

"Oh my god," said Kate, closing her eyes. "Did you actually ring me to have this conversation?"

"Oh yeah," he said, lightly. "I got some things for you. Where are you?"

"Heading back to HQ," she said.

"See you there in fifteen," he replied, and hung up.

His car was already in the parking lot outside when she pulled up. She left the bright sunshine of the day outside and jogged down the stairs inside. She reached the main room, passing the battered stone sculpture, and then froze. Someone had replaced the tattered old couches with new ones. They looked cheap, but clean. Instead of a fire in the centre of the room, there was a coffee table, and electric lights had been rigged up around the room. Most of the loose rubble had been cleared out of the corners. She stared.

Carlos was sitting on one of the new couches. He turned as he heard her footsteps stop on the marble stairs.

"Hey," he said. "What do you think?"

"It looks – nice," she said, walking down towards him. "Who's been organising this?"

"Mostly me and Pierce," he said. "Shaundi gets distracted too easily."

Kate grinned, and sat down on the couch opposite Carlos. She put her feet up on the table. "So what you got?" she asked. "How's things with Donnie going?"

Carlos leaned forward. "He's nervous."

Kate shrugged. "Makes sense. Manage to get anything out of him?"

"There's some kind of shipment coming in," said Carlos. "I think he mentioned it by accident, because after that he shut right up."

"What could that be a shipment of?" Kate asked, curiously. "Cars? Probably not drugs."

"I'll keep working on it," said Carlos.

"I'd like to make a move on the Brotherhood sometime in the next couple of weeks," said Kate. "Poke the bear a little. See what we get back. Any ideas?"

He looked at her, his eyes intense. "I was thinking since Donnie's good with cars, we might be able to get him to rig some up to explode."

"Nice," said Kate, grinning. "Would he go for that?"

"Maybe. If he feels safe."

Kate crossed her legs. "I want your opinion on something to do with Donnie," she said. "Do you think we need to canonise him? I'm worried about his integration here."

Carlos shrugged. "I didn't get canonised," he said. "People like me okay."

"You were here before pretty much all of them though," she replied. "It's different. I think it might help with the others trusting him. Get him to fit in a little better. He doesn't still have that red streak in his hair, does he?"

Carlos shook his head. "He won't like it."

"He sure won't," agreed Kate, tapping her fingertips together. "I'll talk to him about it. It's not like we're going to jump him in an alleyway or something, it's like – organised."

"I also got you these," said Carlos, handing her an envelope.

She reached into the envelope and pulled out a stack of documents. Birth certificate. Social security card. A drivers licence. "God _damn_," she said. "This is some quality work."

"It's not going to stand up to a police background check or anything," said Carlos. "But, you know. They look legit."

"They really do," she said. "They're great." She stood up. "I'm going to take these over now."

She took a step towards the stairs back outside, but paused and turned back. "Let me know when you get that car bomb thing set up, okay?" she asked. "I'll ride along on that one."

She ran back up the stairs to her car.

Misty Lane was serene in the warm afternoon sunlight, the lawns uniformly clipped short and fences painted white. Johnny's car wasn't in the driveway. Kate parked next to the sidewalk in front of the house, picked up the envelope, and got out of the car. The slam of her car door was startlingly loud in the quiet neighbourhood.

Aisha answered the knock on her door. A flicker of confusion passed over her face. "Hey, Kate," she said. "Look, Johnny's not here right now."

"Yeah, that's fine," said Kate. "I came over to give you this." She handed the envelope to Aisha.

The confusion on Aisha's face deepened, and she opened the envelope, still watching Kate closely. She glanced down. Her eyes widened. "Kate!" she said. "How did – how did you even-" She ushered Kate in and closed the door behind her.

Kate grinned. "Johnny lent me a recent-ish picture," she said. "I couldn't set you up with a bank account in this name without you coming in with me, but I figured you don't really need one. Hope this'll make it easier for you to get out more often. I'd hate to be just cooped up in a house all day, even if it is a nice one."

"Yeah," said Aisha, absently, flipping through the cards. "It just means I have to rely on Johnny for a lot of things, and you know what he's like."

Kate laughed.

"Look, can I get you anything to-" Aisha began, but was cut off as the front door crashed open. Johnny was dragging a bleeding Ronin with one hand.

"What the _hell_, Johnny?" she asked.

"Found this guy snooping around," he said.

"For fuck's sake, Gat," snapped Kate. "Don't bring guys back to your _fucking_ house. It's not safe. This is what we have the HQ for. Now we have to kill him."

The Ronin twisted in Johnny's grasp, trying to escape, but Johnny shoved him face-first into the glass table, shattering it.

"I _just_ bought that," said Aisha. "And you're getting blood everywhere. You know how hard it is to get blood out of white carpet?"

"The amount of PMS in this room is seriously overwhelming," he said. "This guy was waiting for me when I left the store." He kicked the Ronin in the ribs, hard. "Got anything to tell us?"

"I have nothing to say to you," hissed the Ronin.

Kate groaned. "Oh, great, a reluctant one. Aisha, do you have any plastic sheets or anything? This could get really messy."

The Ronin began to struggle, but Johnny grabbed a fistful of his hair and smashed his face into the metal frame of the table. He spat out blood. "You can't make me talk," he slurred.

Johnny lifted his head up again.

"Try to get him more in the forehead this time," said Kate, folding her arms. "Less in the mouth. We need him to be able to say things." She winced slightly as the Ronin's head clanged as it once again met with the table.

"L-looking for you," he slurred. "And her. Looking for – for-"

"Me?" asked Kate. "What for?"

The Ronin lay, unmoving, where Johnny had dropped him.

"Ugh," said Kate. "Fuck. Okay. You take care of th-"

Johnny reached out and put a bullet neatly through the Ronin's skull.

Kate narrowed her eyes briefly. "Alright, fine. Kind of a mystery, but – concerning. I'll get hold of Pierce, and you-"

"You clean this shit up right now," said Aisha, holding out a mop and bucket. Johnny shrugged and took them from her.

"And if you ever make another PMS joke about me ever again I'm going to shoot out your other kneecap," said Kate. "Fuck you. See you later."

She heard him laugh as the front door closed behind her.

She got back behind the wheel of her car, and dialled Pierce before turning the phone onto speaker mode and pulling out into the street.

"Sup?" asked Pierce.

"Something's up with the Ronin," she said. "Don't know what. The guy said something about looking for us? He was pretty out of it, though."

"What?" said Piece. "What guy? Looking for who?"

"Random gang member," said Kate. "Some guy. I don't know. Anyway I want to step up shit with the Ronin. Get me some of their financial interests to fuck with, front businesses, anything. I want to hit them in the pocket."

"On it," said Pierce. "Let me check in with you tomorrow on that."

"Nice. Talk to you then."

She drove home, uneasily. Her eyes kept flicking towards the rear vision mirror, hunting for flickers of yellow.

She sighed as she stared at the shitty basement apartment, before reluctantly slouching down the steps. Just as she was unlocking the door, her phone rang again. She pushed inside, closed the door behind her, and fished it out of her pocket. And stared.

She hit the answer button, and slowly raised it to her ear.

"Troy," she said, curiously. "What can I do for you?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. She sat down on the corner of her bed, flicked on the TV, and turned the volume right down.

"Everything okay?" she asked, slowly, after nothing seemed to be forthcoming. "You're not in some kind of trouble, are you?"

"No," said Troy, at last. "I just – look. They tap you for undercover pretty soon after police academy. I had this friend there, right, and – and we ended up on the same undercover training course, too."

There was another long pause. She frowned. "What happened?" she asked, gently.

"He was – killed in the line of duty," said Troy. "Trial for his killer ended today. Not guilty on the basis that he was defending his home from unknown assailants."

Kate smiled, slowly. "Send me a photo," she said. "Send me an address. Known associates, regular hangouts. Stuff like that."

"Kate-" he began, but she cut him off.

"Shh. It's okay. Don't think about it anymore." She paused for a moment. "I gotta go. See you later, Troy."

She hung up before he could reply.


	25. The Reflex

Holy shit so I got a ton of reviews last chapter, and a lot of them were anonymous so I couldn't really reply to them properly (which I really like doing, so if you have an account it would be cool to reply directly! I did want to mention Marnie's point about female characteristics, which is _totally what I'm trying to do _so omg I love! I also agree with all of Reino's shipping suggestions :D And thanks to everyone else who said lovely things about this story, it was actually amazing reading all of them.

* * *

Kate checked the address for the third time in the darkness of her car. She was right down the bottom of the suburbs district, bordering on Filmore. There were three apartment buildings crammed in next to each other, the beige paint peeling away in sheets from the old weatherboard. The car park was strewn with rubbish, and in the corner of it there was a rusty car up on blocks, glinting dully in the bright moonlight.

She looked up at the apartment complex again. There were sets of stairs on each side, and three open-air floors bridging between them at every second level. She slid her phone into her pocket and cracked open the door, listening. She could hear cars driving past, the tinny crackle of a nearby Forgive and Forget, a police siren in the distance.

She got out of the car, adjusting the gun tucked into the back of her waistband, heading for the nearest building. The car park was dark and deserted, lit only by the soft glow shining through the apartment windows above.

The rubber soles of her shoes were quiet as she began to climb the stairs up to the third floor. As she reached the landing, she paused. She could smell something chemical, harsh and acrid.

She approached the door carefully and knocked on it, sliding the gun out of her waistband and holding it just behind her. She could see the shape of someone moving inside through the glass pane next to the door.

"Who is it?" called a muffled voice.

She narrowed her eyes. "Hey," she called out. "I'm looking for Michael Stewart."

There was a long pause. "Who is it?" she heard again, more wary this time. The tiny peephole of light set into the door at eye level went dark.

"Look," she said, stepping towards the door. "I can't give you my name out here, it's not safe. I need to talk to you."

The door opened a fraction, the security chain stretching across the gap. A man cautiously peered out at her, with suspicious eyes and some kind of breathing mask on an elastic band around his neck. It was him.

"What do you want?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She lifted her gun wordlessly and fired two bullets into his face. As he fell back, Kate reached over to smash the window next to the door with the butt of her gun. She reached a hand in through the broken glass, feeling around for the chain on the inside of the door, and unhooked it. She took a quick glance behind her – even though she'd made a decent amount of noise, no one had opened their doors – and stepped inside.

She was almost knocked back by the chemical smell. Wrinkling her nose, she looked around the small apartment. One table was taken up by large glass jars, some encrusted with powder and some containing a dark red liquid, linked with rubber tubing. She paused for a moment, before reaching down to the dead man she was standing over and rifling through his pockets until she found his wallet. She shoved it into the back pocket of her shorts and made a half-hearted attempt at searching the rest of the room; opening drawers and tipping their contents onto the floor; pulling furniture out to check behind it; opening the cupboards in the tiny kitchen; and even hooking her fingers through a metal grid attached to a ventilation shaft and tugging.

It gave way, and she stumbled back, off-balance. Just inside the vent were two neat stacks of cash, bound with a rubber band. She grabbed both and backed out of the apartment quickly, locking the door behind her.

She ran down the steps and hurried to her car.

"Need a better fucking story next time," she muttered, as she turned the key in the ignition.

She turned the radio up as she drove over the bridge. She followed the road along the waterfront, and parked just outside the local Tee'N'Ay, where Shaundi was waiting for her.

Shaundi stood up when she saw Kate. She'd been sitting under a bench by the water, watching the moonlight ripple on the sea.

"Hey," she said, as Kate got closer.

"Hey," Kate replied. "This is nice. Romantic."

Shaundi laughed, but then recoiled. "Shit, you smell like a meth lab."

"Yeah, I've just been-" Kate waved a hand. "At a meth lab."

"Have any meth?"

Kate sat down on the bench next to her. "No, just ended up with cash on this trip."

Shaundi shrugged. "Least you got something."

"So what are we doing here, anyway?" asked Kate.

Shaundi sat forward. "Okay. So I haven't been able to figure out what's in Loa dust yet, right, but I know someone who can."

Kate glanced back at the Tee'N'Ay behind them.

"Nope," said Shaundi. "It's going to be a little harder to get to our expert, unfortunately. See, I met her in prison – and she's still in prison."

Kate blinked at her. "Do you have some idea about what we're going to do about that?"

"Yeah! All you have to do is bomb the prison generator, find her cell, and then escape with her." Shaundi raised a hand and waved at a Saint close by.

The Saint ran towards them, carrying something close to his body. Kate's eyes widened as he tripped on the curb. He lost his grip on the small, grey box in his hands, sending it skidding across the concrete towards them. It stopped just short of her feet.

After a moment, Shaundi let out a long breath.

Kate looked up at the man who'd been carrying it. He was standing with his hands clasped tensely, frozen, a forced smile pasted onto his face. "Is that going to explode?" she asked, in disbelief.

"It's, uh, probably not too stable right now," he admitted cautiously. "So the quicker you get there, the better."

"Okay," said Kate, holding both her hands up in front of her. "I'm totally not doing this. So you-" she pointed at the Saint standing in front of them. "Take this bomb and get rid of it. Deactivate it if possible, I guess, or drive it out into the harbour and drop it in the water. But seriously, holy shit, I am not staging a prison riot."

The Saint scooped up the box hurriedly, and carried it carefully away.

Shaundi was staring at the ground between her feet. "Sorry," she said, quietly.

Kate shook her head. "It's alright," she said, touching Shaundi's shoulder. "I'll give Legal Lee a call and see if we can get an appeal and then see if we can snatch her from the court house or something like that. If that doesn't work we can reconsider this bomb idea. Just – try and think of easy ways to do stuff before jumping straight to the hard ways, okay?"

"Yeah," said Shaundi, half-heartedly. "I just like – I like thinking up stuff like this."

"Still keep thinking it up," said Kate. "But just, like, warn me before it's bomb time."

Shaundi sighed. "It wasn't meant to be bomb time yet. And it seemed like it was going to be so exciting."

Kate tilted her head to one side. "Do you actually want to do it?" she asked. "I mean, shit, if you're keen to do this we could get that guy back-"

"No," said Shaundi quickly. "That's okay."

"Okay," said Kate. "No big deal then. I'll tell you what happens with Lee. What's her name?"

"Oh, Laura… something."

"What was she in for?"

"Dealing." Shaundi shook her head. "She wasn't too subtle, apparently. I feel so bad for her, her marriage fell apart when she got arrested, and her kids never came to visit her or anything. But she was so – I don't know, _peppy_ all the time. And it's not like they hand out valium in the pen, so it was just _her_."

"Sounds nice," said Kate, turning away. "Look, I'll-"

"Oh yeah," said Shaundi. "I think she said she knows you."

Kate turned back. "What? How?"

"I think she said you did some work for her, back in the day?" Shaundi tilted her head to one side.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "What does she look like?"

"Oh, she's probably late forties, she's got that haircut that every woman in their forties somehow end up with. She's um, _suburby_. She likes you. Said you're a good shot."

"No way," said Kate. "No _fucking_ way." She covered her mouth with a hand. "Oh, no, that's totally my fault, we attracted way too much attention doing that shit."

Shaundi shrugged. "She doesn't seem mad about it."

"Well, shit, now we _have_ to get her out."

"D-do you want the bomb back?" Shaundi asked tentatively.

"Still no," said Kate. "Look, I'll figure something out."

She felt her phone in her pocket vibrate, and grasped for it desperately before Shaundi could recognise the ringtone.

"Hey," said Pierce. "Look, I got something for you. Looks like a huge group of Ronin up by the amphitheatre by the museum. If you hurry you might be able to make it."

"What are they doing?" asked Kate. She waved at Shaundi and beganto walk towards her car. "Just like, hanging out? Having a meeting?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say some kind of deal is going down. If you go yourself, you might want to take a McManus along. They're pretty heavily armed."

"Ooh, McManus," Kate said, her eyes widening. "Okay, I'm sold. You keeping an eye on the situation?"

"Course I am."

"I might take Johnny along," she continued. "You know how he gets when he doesn't get taken for regular walks."

"What?"

"Never mind," said Kate. "Sounds good. See you later."

She hung up, and immediately began redialling.

Johnny answered on the second ring. "What's up?" he asked.

"That was quick," she said. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," he said. "Shit, Eesh isn't even here. She's barely been home since you got her that goddamn ID."

"Aww," said Kate. "Are you lonely?"

"Fuck off," said Johnny. "Bored, maybe."

Kate smiled. "I might be able to help with that," she said. "Meet me by the Friendly Fire closest to Amberbrook. I'm going to snipe some Ronin and I need you to keep reinforcements off my ass."

"Fuckin' sold," said Johnny. "Be there in ten."

The McManus was cool and heavy in her hands. She ran her fingers over the brushed steel reverently.

"Do you need a minute alone with that?" asked Johnny.

Kate grinned. "Shut up," she said. "I've seen the way you look at rocket launchers."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," said Johnny. "Just, you know, make sure it's not loaded if you're going to stick it-"

"Oh my god," said Kate, laughing. "Shut up. Don't even – just don't." She turned to the cashier. "Yes, we'll take it. Thanks."

She picked out the deserted rooftop of a parking building to set up her rifle. She fixed it carefully in place with the tripod and lay down to look through the lens. It wasn't a great angle, but it was good enough.

"Do I get to do anything anytime soon?" asked Johnny.

"Give it a couple minutes," said Kate, looking up from the scope. "They'll figure out where we are soon enough." She sent a quick text message to Pierce to let him know they were set up and returned back to the scope.

Yellow cars were parked by the roadside on the grass verge next to the amphitheatre. Ronin gathered around the steps, visible around the crumbling white pillars. They seemed to be heading down towards the lowest level. One of them had a rocket launcher.

Kate smiled, tracking him through the scope. When he paused for a moment, she squeezed the trigger. She watched the Ronin react, turn towards the target in horror. Before they could move, she'd targeted another one. It wasn't until the third had fallen that they began to scramble for cover.

She watched one of them point towards her location, waving his arm. She slid the barrel of the rifle towards him and fired, sending him flying backwards into a pillar. He slid down against it, leaving a red smear.

She could hear Johnny shifting restlessly behind her. "Am I actually going to be doing anything here?" he asked. "Or did you just want to hang out?"

"They're on their way," said Kate. "Couple minutes." She scanned the amphitheatre. Most of the Ronin had taken cover, but there were still those that weren't sure where the shots were coming from.

She could hear squealing tyres in the parking garage below.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Always," said Johnny.

She heard gunshots behind her, but didn't turn around as she continued picking Ronin off. She watched them through the scope. They were running, now, back to their cars.

She was suddenly wrenched sideways, grabbed by her collar, almost choking. She looked up at Johnny, glaring incredulously, but a yellow motorbike hit the spot where she'd been lying, its rider flipping over the edge of the building. There was a car sitting just down the ramp to the lower levels, with bodies lying half out of it.

"I got ya," he said. "Don't worry."

She looked again through her scope. There weren't many more Ronin in sight, but she knew there were more hiding. "I think we're going to need to get closer," she said.

"More action? Sounds good," he said. "I'm driving, by the way."

She sat balefully in the passenger seat as they drove the Ronin's car towards the amphitheatre.

"Hey, what?" said Katie, as they passed a banner advertising the museum. "Eromenos museum? Gross."

"What?" asked Johnny. "What's gross about that?"

"Oh," she said. "I guess cultural relativism and all that, but it's still gross."

"What in the fuck are you talking about?"

"Well, an eromenos is kind of like – okay, well, in ancient Greece where like, an older man would pick out a younger man, who was usually a young-ish teenager, to be his lover, who gets called the eromenos. It's like a kind of institutionalised paedophilia thing and anyway it grosses me out."

"Okay, what the hell?" said Johnny. "How do you even know this?"

"I did this one paper at-"

"Do you have a degree?" asked Johnny. "Because you keep just talking about all this fucking study you did."

Kate was silent for a moment. "No," she said, finally.

"How the fuck not?"

"Well," she said. "Basically a lot of bad life choices. I don't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to think about paedophilia every time I drive down this road," he said.

"I guess life just sucks then," she said. "Look, pull over here, we need to head up the hill. What's this city's deal with all the classical architecture stuff, anyway?"

"Fuck if I know," said Johnny, reloading his shotgun and gesturing towards the hill. "You wanna go first?"

"Not particularly," she said.

He grinned. "Good."

Johnny took point and rushed in, with no regard for his safety. Kate followed, but she kept behind pillars, taking time to line up her shots with her pistol.

Waves of Ronin kept coming at them, until finally they stood surrounded by bodies, in what looked like the ruins of a temple.

"Is that all?" asked Johnny. "Kind of disappointing. Oh well."

"Ugh," said Kate, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Let's just get out of here before even more show up."

Johnny shrugged. "If you say so," he said, lightly. "Catch you later, then. It's been fun."

She watched him drive away, yellow cars peeling off as he drove up the street, following him, with a faint frown. She watched until he disappeared.


	26. Third Gear Scratch

I have had even more lovely anon guests commenting! I am actually dying at how nice all your comments are, thank you so much :)

* * *

Kate didn't often sleep at the HQ. It wasn't that far from the basement apartment, and the creaking sound as cars drove past on the road overhead was enough to keep her awake most of the time, but sometimes after staying there late she'd just crash in one of the rooms near the stairs up to the surface. The rooms were fairly small – big enough for a bed, a table and chairs, and not much else, with a bathroom attached. The wallpaper was torn and peeling.

It only seemed like a moment since she'd closed her eyes when the door opened.

"I love Luz," said Shaundi, sitting down on the end of the bed. It sagged down towards her. "She's so great."

"What?" Kate croaked. "I mean – yeah. She is. What?"

"We were talking about exes and stuff," Shaundi continued. "And she said you two actually met when you murdered her boyfriend."

Kate sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Well – I would have called it an execution," she said, frowning. "But yeah. She took that quite well, considering."

Shaundi scooted a little closer, wrinkling the faded green bedspread. "I got the impression," she said, quietly. "That he used to like – you know. Smack her around a little."

"Whoa." Kate's eyes opened wide. "Did not know that."

"She said you were pretty nice about the whole thing. And that you had some guy with you."

"Dex."

"Yeah. And I've heard you or Johnny talk about him before, and I was just, you know, wondering…" She trailed off.

"Mm," said Kate. "Yeah. Okay." She hesitated for a moment. "Well, he was a lieutenant under Julius. And Dex –Dex was smart. Like, _really_ smart. Not like, college smart, because I'm pretty sure he taught himself everything he knows, but – he knew how to put a plan together. Christ, the shit he pulled off was insane." She grinned. "He had me and Johnny dress up like the Vice Kings because he'd figured out the police were working with them, and-" She stopped suddenly. "And that would be why Troy didn't want to take them on when Julius asked him _for fuck's sake_." She covered her face with her hands.

"Uh, are you okay?" asked Shaundi tentatively.

"I just want to fucking punch everything sometimes," said Kate. "No, not you, don't worry. Anyway, Dex ended up working for Ultor, somehow. Not sure how that happened."

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and then it opened again. Pierce came in, took a look around, and pulled out a chair to sit down on.

"Guys," said Kate. "I'm not even wearing pants, seriously."

"Really?" asked Shaundi.

"Whatever," said Pierce. "I got a couple more Ronin locations for you to hit. You in?"

Kate closed her eyes. "Are they big jobs like the last one? If they're not too complex you could probably just send a few of our guys in instead. Maybe get Carlos involved, he could probably use the experience."

"Nah, I checked with him," said Pierce. "Says he's got something planned that he wants to talk to you about later."

"Oh, cool," she said. "That'll be the Brotherhood thing. I'm kind of looking forward to that."

"Alright," said Pierce. "I'll sort it."

"Thanks," she said, as he stood up and left.

"Oh hey, yeah," said Shaundi. "That's right. I forgot what I'd come in here for, but I remember it now. I have this ex, right, who used to run distribution for the Samedi. He told me there are these huge pot farms up by the campus where they get most of their supply from."

"And what were you thinking?" asked Kate.

"Well, we could go out there and have a party," said Shaundi. "Or we could torch the whole thing. Could probably do both at the same time, now that I think about it."

"Burning and pillaging." Kate nodded slowly. "This is starting to sound like a job for Johnny. Get a team together, and call me if anything goes wrong. Are you going too?"

Shaundi shrugged languidly. "Yeah, I was thinking about it."

"Alright," Kate said. "Take care of yourself."

Shaundi looked at her for a moment longer, head tilted to one side curiously. "So what were you saying about Troy?"

Kate sighed. "Maybe later, Shaundi, okay? I have to go sort this thing out with Carlos."

"Yeah," she said. "If you want. See you." She closed the door behind her.

Kate called Carlos on her cellphone while she pulled her jeans back on.

"Hey, Carlito," she said, when he answered. "Heard you got something for me."

"Yeah!" He sounded cheerful. "He's gonna go for it. Haven't talked about canonising him yet, though."

"I'll bring it up with him," she said, beginning to lace her shoes. "I'm at HQ right now, where are you?"

"On my way."

She headed up to the surface to meet him. The sun outside was blisteringly hot, melting the asphalt beneath her feet. She raised a hand to shield her eyes. Donnie's car drove into the parking lot just a few minutes later.

"I'll drive," Carlos said as he pulled up next to her, a cheeky grin on his face.

"You're walking a very fine line," she said, smiling faintly. "Donnie and I'll be in the back, then." She got into the car.

"Why are you going to be sitting in the back too?" asked Donnie, alarmed.

"Well," said Kate, gently. "So I can protect you better, and because I want to talk to you."

"Feel like a taxi driver," said Carlos, half to himself, as he began to drive. "My uncle was a taxi driver."

"Think of it as a fallback career option if you keep making jokes about my driving," she said.

Carlos laughed.

She pulled her knee up on the seat next to her and turned around to face Donnie. He was pale and wide-eyed, dressed in nondescript black. The red streak in his hair had faded to an orange-pink.

She smiled. "Donnie," she said. "Don't do your seatbelt up. You're going to be getting in and out of cars a lot and you need to be able to do it in a hurry."

"Oh." He unclipped his seatbelt obediently.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"Okay," he said. "I guess."

"I feel like this is an important symbolic step," she said. "You know. Between the end of your old life and the beginning of your new life."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like this talk about lives ending that much."

She grinned "You'll be fine."

"Yeah," he said, unconvinced.

"Look, what I wanted to talk to you about was joining the Saints more – well, not _formally_, more like _tangibly_, I guess." She waved a hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He glanced out the window nervously.

"Alright," she said. "Basically, we have this initiation thing we do, and you don't have to do it, but I would recommend you do. I had to do it."

"What is it?"

"Uh – everyone tries to fight you for like, a couple minutes. It's not for long, and if I time it right I can probably keep Johnny out of it so that you don't lose any teeth-"

"Oh, is that all?" The tension seemed to drain out of his shoulders. "Yeah, okay."

"Wow," she said. "Okay. That was, um, easier than I'd expected."

"What, you think I've never been beaten up before?" he asked, half smiling. "That's half the reason I started hanging out with Joe in the first place."

"Who?" Kate frowned.

"Joseph. Joseph Price. You know, the guy who's mansion you shot up?"

"Yeah," she said, slowly. "Sorry about that."

Donnie looked back out the window. "It was years ago," he said, quietly.

"First stop!" announced Carlos. "That'll be twenty five dollars."

Donnie got out of the car. Kate reached forward to ruffle Carlos' hair before getting out after him. They were in an empty parking lot, next to a gas station. Kate eyed the pumps cautiously. They were probably far enough away to avoid the blast if anything went wrong.

She leaned against the car, watching Donnie as he crouched next to the dark red truck. There were Brotherhood members standing around.

"Hey, Donnie," one of them said, a tall man in a sleeveless t-shirt to show off his tattoos. "Didn't something happen with you and Maero?"

Donnie glanced back at Kate, leaning against the dark red paint of his car. She smiled and shrugged.

"No," he said, finally, and turned back to the car.

The man looked towards Kate, who waved at him; looked at Donnie's car; and then turned back to Donnie. "Okay," he said. "Well, see you later."

"Yep," said Donnie, tightly. "See you."

Donnie came back to the car pale and trembling. He closed the door and started to do up his seatbelt before remembering, and abandoning it. "That was too close," he said.

Kate grinned. "No, oh my god, that was amazing." She watched out the back window as they accelerated away. "That was stone cold."

"Yeah, man," said Carlos from the front seat. "Good job."

"When does the bomb go off?" asked Kate.

Donnie shrugged. "We figured we'd set them off in an hour, once they're all done. Gets us less attention that way."

She nodded. "Good call."

Their next stop was in an alleyway behind a row of buildings, which was practically deserted. At least the high wall behind them kept them out of the sun's heat.

"So what do you think?" said Carlos quietly. He and Kate sat in the car, all of the windows rolled down, watching Donnie as he crouched by the cars.

Kate leaned forward against the back of his seat. "I'm pretty impressed," she said, keeping her voice as low as his. "To be honest. How'd you get the vehicle locations?"

Carlos nodded towards Donnie. "It's all him."

"I don't know what you've been saying to him, but it's working."

"Aww, he's alright," said Carlos, grinning. "Even if he's a – what was it you called him?"

"A weenie," admitted Kate. "For the love of god, don't ever tell him I said that."

"Oh, really?" Carlos' eyes widened. "I kinda told him already."

She turned to look at him, glaring, but he was laughing. "I didn't," he said. "I didn't. Really."

"You watch out," she said, trying not to smile. "That mouth's gonna get you in trouble."

"Does already," he said.

Donnie had finished and was heading back towards them. "One more to go," he said, getting back into the car. He leaned over the seat in front of him to give Carlos directions.

The last car was parked in front of an apartment building. There were a couple of people sitting on the steps outside, but none wearing Brotherhood red. Kate smiled, watching Donnie as he worked.

At last, he stood up and came back to the car. "Well, that's all of them," he said. "What do we do now?"

"We could go back to HQ," suggested Kate. "Or we could just go home. Does anyone from the Brotherhood know where you live?"

"Uh – yeah. Maybe."

"Yeah, you might want to move out," she said. "You can crash at HQ if you want. Or-" she paused. "Maybe you could have that basement apartment. I've been thinking about buying some real estate lately. Yeah, let's do that."

Carlos began to drive.


End file.
